The Lithia Spring at Vossburg

By all known accounts, there were three commercial mineral water springs established near Vossburg during the late 1800’s. Newspaper articles and US Geological records reflect that two of these springs, Stafford Springs and Lithia Springs, were engaged in significant commercial enterprise wherein they bottled and shipped mineral water on a global scale. The activity of the third spring, the Voss Hotel, is not clear. I blame this uncertainty on the reporters of that age. What was clear to them was not skillfully put into print. The records of the United States Geological Survey do point to two major players: Stafford Springs and Lithia Springs. My intuition (based upon the limited physical evidence) tells me that there were not two hotels at Vossburg, rather that the Voss Hotel attempted to enter the mineral water enterprise. In any case, I have not been able to find any evidence of Voss Mineral Water being bottled or shipped.

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Clip from Jasper County News - circa 1900

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A few years ago, while I was searching for information relative to Stafford Springs, I ran across an E-Bay item associated to Jasper County. The offering was for a printer’s bottle label proof for Lithia Springs, recovered from the files of a defunct New York printer. At that time, I had never heard of Lithia water and assumed that this must have been an alternative brand once marketed by Stafford Springs. I bid on the item and won the auction. A few years later, I have come to realize that I most likely own the sole remaining label of a Lithia Springs water bottle.

Based upon personal accounts, the Lithia spring and the spring house (possibly other structures) were located on the north side of the railroad tracks, west of Vossburg, by a relatively short distance (a mile or less). I have been in contact with one individual who, as a child, observed the remains of the springhouse and some foundation stones.

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