The Case of the First Bottling Works in Grand Junction
I recently held this enchanting Hutchinson soda bottle, discovered by Mark Bluhm at a local garage sale. Almost illegible, Henry G Wurtz Grand Junction Colo is embossed on its aged face. Excitement filled me, for not only am I acquainted with Wurtz, but the aqua bottle is extremely rare.
The 1870 Census shows 387 soda water bottling plants in operation. By 1884, Grand Junction joined the national ranks with its first facility, established by Henry Wurtz. Henry, born in 1843 to German immigrants, moved here in 1883. Soon afterward, he opened an ice business. He also planted a large grove of trees a mile below town, on the banks of the Grand (now Colorado) River. Wurtz Grove was our first amusement park, resplendent with lush grass, inviting benches, and a pavilion. Croquet sets were placed strategically for genteel entertainment, and a wooden dance floor hosted summer soirées. Throughout the sweltering summers horse-drawn carriages regularly conveyed church members, picnickers, and sweethearts there.
Wurtz Grove offered merrymakers everything but refreshments. Henry addressed that shortcoming as the 1884 season approached. He opened his bottling works plant on site and sold iced ginger ale and flavored soda water. The Grand Junction News encouraged support.
Typical 1910s bottling works interior, Whistle Bottling Works, courtesy LOC Prints and Photographs Div, npcc-32084
Early bottling works were humble affairs. Henry’s facility was most likely a wood-framed building with one large room. A May 1884 News article reported the entrepreneur awaited shipment of equipment from New York. Bottle expert, Ted Oppelt, shared with me the machinery would have included a bottle washer and steamer, a filler station where product was extracted from barrels and dispensed into bottles, apparatus for sealing the bottles, a table for applying labels, and one for packing bottles into crates. The News reported Henry had a least one experienced man, but he may have employed more.
Local bottle collector, Ralph Kemper, believes Henry’s first bottle was this common “blob top” made of thick glass to withstand the pressure of compressed gas. A few years later, Henry used the Hutchinson bottle, or “hutch” as it’s affectionately called. The American Glass Works out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania manufactured these, and the beautiful bottle I held.
On February 10, 1891, Henry married Louise LeGard and within a year had leased out the bottling plant. Devoting himself to his Grove Park Orchard, his reputation as an exceptional orchardist grew. Sometime after 1907, Henry and Louise left the high desert and moved to Colorado Springs. Tragically, they are listed in the 1920 Census as “inmates” of a home for the destitute.
In 1901, Wurtz Grove was listed in the city directory as “Lotz” Grove. Eventually the towering trees were razed, and now the city recycling plant sits atop what once was the highlight of a summer day.
Henry’s business may have become Grand Junction Bottling Works, which was owned by B. Lucas. An 1897 ad assures customers his products, including vinegar, were “first class.” The company acquired several owners, the most enduring being Albert Porter, whose foresight led to purchasing a Coca Cola franchise in 1937. He changed his company’s name to Grand Junction Coca Cola Bottling Company. Just before WWII, the facility moved to Advertiser’s Alley, a short-lived business section located behind Main Street stores and between Fourth and Fifth streets.
GJBW dominated the town’s bottling industry for decades, but there were occasional competitors. In 1910, Western Slope Bottling Company opened at 125 N. Spruce, and only survived seven years. The 1931-1932 city directory lists Rose-Arctic Ice Cream and Bottling Company at 223-225 Main Street, about where Hawthorne Suites is now. It sold ice cream, milk, and among its carbonated beverages, ginger beer, in a distinctive dark amber bottle.
As Mom-and-Pop ensembles disappeared, they were replaced by streamlined, automated enterprises owned by mega-corporations like Coke and Pepsi. I’m not so sure we should be happy about that.
Figure 1- Blob top bottle Figure 2 - Grand Junction Bottling Works Figure 3 - Western Slope Bottling Works
These beautiful bottles are courtesy of Ralph Kemper
Two examples of Rose Arctic bottles.
On the left is a pint milk bottle and on the right, a Ginger Beer Bottle from the 1930s
Typical 1940s bottling works interior, Schaefer Brewing Co, New York, courtesy LOCPPD, gsc 5a06368
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taste of the past *****************************************************************
You may miss this tiny structure adjacent to an alley behind Colorado Avenue, near Second Street. Built around 1900 and purchased by Adolph Coors for Jimmy Purcell, local saloon owner and Coors agent, it once was a busy spot. Prior to Prohibition (in Grand Junction, that ensued on April 17, 1909) horse drawn wagons bellied up to its doors, as workers emerged from within its 3-foot thick walls. Unloading barrels of Coors beer and placing them on Douglas Fir floors, the process of bottling began. When finished, crates of beer bottles were delivered to the many saloons around town. In 1926, the historic building was sold to the Hyashi family.
Photos courtesy of the Hyashi Family