Bottled water is nothing new in Chesterfield County
By Diane Dallmeyer CHESTERFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The springhouse at Beaufont is still maintained by the developers of the Boulders office park.

The longer I work in the office of the Chesterfield Historical Society, the more I realize that it's true: there's nothing new under the sun! Centuries ago, right here in Chesterfield, people were murdering one another, families underwent tragedies, young women had babies out of wedlock and wayward children were still taking their toll on their parents. And then there's bottled water. Nothing new there, either.

I recently learned a bit about Beaufont Springs and the history of the area around what is now Beaufont Plaza and the cloverleaf of Midlothian Turnpike and Chippenham Parkway. This area was originally called Crow Spring and later renamed Beaufont (French for "beautiful spring") by its purchaser, James Robertson, when he bought it in 1895.

Robertson developed it commercially the following year and called his company the "Beaufont Lithia Springs Company." Why Lithia? If you look the word up, you find that it is a derivative of the Greek word, "lithos," meaning "stone." From the stones of granite at Beaufont came water that was promoted as having special therapeutic properties.

The photo above was taken in 1896 and reportedly shows members of the Jahnke family and friends at the Beaufont spring. The Beaufont Lithia Springs Company bottled water for use in drinking and cooking and was very popular with Richmond area residents. The interior of the springhouse (left) still shows where the water used to flow.

In 1817, a Swedish student named Johan Arvedson discovered lithium, but it is widely believed to have been in use for ages, possibly in southern Egypt before the birth of Jesus Christ. In the late 1800s, the Lithia Springs Sanitarium was established in Georgia. It used natural lithium water in treating alcoholism, opium addiction and compulsive behavior. Manic depression had not been identified as a mental illness at that time. Lithia water was analyzed and found to be rich in lithium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, fluoride and other essential trace minerals.

Back at Beaufont, Robertson and his son were taking their spring water downtown by horse team. From there it was shipped to cities such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. The company changed hands in 1916, and business boomed during Prohibition. The new owner, Frederick Sitterding Sr., added 6-8 flavors of carbonated beverage to his inventory. These "soft drinks" led to the formation of a sister company, Climax Beverages.

Sitterding owned another company called The Home Brewery, which joined forces with Beaufont Springs, adding a brewery and ice plant to the joint venture which lasted until 1933. By then, municipal water systems had improved to the point where bottled water was not in such demand and the water bottling part of the business was shut down in 1940.

The area of Beaufont Springs enjoyed a brief revival in the 1950s when the Sitterding family built a picnic ground and recreation area around the spring. This area was available for rent and for business parties and was quite popular. Volleyball, basketball, horseshoes and a dance pavilion were well-used amenities. Caterers were used to bring in food, but renters were required to purchase their beer and soft drinks through the company.

Upon construction of Chippenham Parkway and the commercial properties in Beaufont and the Boulders office park, the water became muddy, but the springhouse bottling plant and picnic area were preserved by Sigma Development, the developers of the Boulders. According to earlier newspaper reports, these areas can still be visited today.

In 1999, the medical profession celebrated the 50th anniversary of the discovery of lithium, a miracle drug that truly changed the way mental illness is treated. But mankind was aware of the spring's healing qualities well before then.