Mineral Springs: Magical Waters Beneath Our Feet

Mokena's first modern subdivision has a name that goes back to the early days of our Village.  The Mineral Springs neighborhood sits just south of the train station and at one point was the source of healing waters that were being pumped from below ground. This healing well was so popular that it eventually ran a pipeline closer to the tracks to be able to fill tanker cars directly. 
Matt shares the story of the first time it was sold by an early Mokenian and also shares of the transformation from "truck farm" to Mokena's first modern subdivision, that was built post World War 2. 

You can find a link to Matt's article that this episode is based on HERE!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 9:29 Mokina Mineral Springs
• 18:51 House and Farm History
• 25:23 The Switch to Lake Michigan Water

Transcript

Israel: 0:00

Welcome to Mokena's Front Porch. A Mokena History Podcast with Mac Dalek and me, israel Smith.

Matt: 0:07

In the first years of the 20th century, the Mokena mineral springs flourished as a local industry. The water landed in the laboratory of a city chemist who declared it to be an exceptionally healthy sort that even had medicinal qualities. The burned house wasn't the only residence at Breezy Hill. Its sister, the larger domicile built during the Max years, still stands on today's Mokena Street, it being later the home of Mayor.

Israel: 0:34

Charles Swenberg. Alright, matt, tonight we're going to talk about your blog post, the nectar that Jupiter sits, the story of Mokena's mineral springs and not. Probably a lot of people don't know what mineral springs refers to or what is now the neighborhood of mineral springs, but do you want to kind of explain the general area we're talking about?

Matt: 1:01

So yeah, the well. First of all, depending how old you are, mineral springs will have a couple different definitions. People of a certain age will identify mineral springs as being a subdivision, which is oh, let's see, how would I explain this? Mokina Street runs right through the middle of it going, let's see, bordered on the east by the McGovernay Yonker Farm, bordered on the west by roughly by about Center Street, then on the south by La Porte Road and in the north by Denny Avenue. Then whole area kind of in there was built up not too terribly long after World War II ended, or at least that's when it started to be built up Kind of happened over the years.

Matt: 1:52

But and that subdivision was called mineral springs but even older people unfortunately none of which are around anymore because they'd be exceedingly old but the original name mineral springs refers to a local business that was back on that location where there was a little farm that had a well that had just remarkably good water that came out of it, that was pumped out of the ground here through a pipeline into specially built railroad cars where it was shipped to Joliet and even Chicago markets where it was bottled and sold and it was sent to even have healing qualities, and this is well over 100 years ago, about 1900, going up into about the World War I era or thereabouts.

Israel: 2:43

You know and you don't. It's not like people were walking around those days with bottles of every on. The normal person it wasn't didn't have water bottles like we do now. Right, right, so who? Who was it that was buying mineral springs water?

Matt: 2:57

There were people. There was a company that had agents that worked for it that were taken it to city markets and selling it there. It was touted for its healing qualities. You know anybody that had and it was touted to heal just about anything. Anybody that was looking for some medicinal help would would buy it and it was known far and wide as as moquino water.

Matt: 3:24

Rumors to have regrown limbs, yeah, there was one guy right at the beginning who said that he regrew a limb from it. Whether you know or not, that's possible. We don't know.

Israel: 3:37

But I mean, I mean, if it really happened, you want to know what's really going on in that water. What was the runoff from a younger farm over there?

Matt: 3:46

Yeah, I know, yeah, yeah.

Israel: 3:48

No, but it, and you know we'll hear about it. It ended up being a really big business for quite a few years and, as we say, it was put moquina kind of on the map.

Matt: 3:59

It really did, it really did yeah.

Israel: 4:02

So, and in the story you quote but you titled the story in nectar that Jupiter sips. So I had to look up the significance of Jupiter. And so Jupiter is the Roman god of sky and thunder, so similar to a Zeus in Greek mythology or Thor in the Norse mythology, so interesting that that would be right. How they, how they referred to it at one point.

Matt: 4:36

Yeah, yeah, and I thought it was a marketing ploy, but I thought it sounded really cool.

Israel: 4:41

So I had to use it. Yeah, yeah, the nectar that Jupiter sips. All right, well, let's get into the story.

Matt: 4:48

All right.

Israel: 4:49

This is again published Sunday, february 25th of 2023, and is titled the nectar that Jupiter sips the story of Moquina mineral springs.

Matt: 5:01

Whether it be a hard workout, an arduous hike or a long day doing housework, a cold glass of water always hits the spot With a sparkling goodness that flows from Moquina s faucets now comes from Lake Michigan. Generations of villagers were raised on our well. Water which some, present company included, maintain tasted better. There was a time when Moquina water was so desired that it was shipped to Chicago and Joliet markets, where eager customers couldn't get enough of it. Some even touted its supposed healing powers. In the first years of the 20th century, the Moquina mineral springs flourished as a local industry, being no small affair. That put our fair village on the map for the first time. At the turn of the century, moquina was slowly emerging from the rough patch. The end of the 19th century was a time rife with economic turbulence and uncertainty, which led no small number of village residents to pack up and seek their fortunes elsewhere. But the town's population plummeted to an all-time low. In 1900, when a federal census taker counted a mere 281 souls living in town, the air was primed for a shift.

Matt: 6:18

The story begins with the poetically named Darlington T Jones, a middle-aged native of Ohio and father of two, who arrived in our environs in the last years of the 1890s. In a legal transaction completed in his wife Hattie's name, the Joneses bought a small farm immediately south of town from the Mergentoller family for $2,600 in the spring of 1898, which they came to call Breezy Hill. To lay out the boundaries of the farm in today's dimensions, the northern border was Denny Avenue, the southern boundary stretching to contemporary La Porte Road and the west and east boundaries laying on Center Street and at the edge of a farm in the hands of the McGoverni family, today known as McGoverni Younger Farm. This little estate was quite an old one, tracing its history back to 1856, when Mokena's founding father, alan Denny, first sold it to Elisha P Wilcox of LaSalle County, when our community was a mere hamlet along the new Chicago, rock Island and Pacific Railroad. As Mokena historian Florence Pittman would recall, decades later Darlington Jones had a well-drilled on his new property soon after taking possession, and something about the water he struck was different, somehow out of the ordinary. The twists and turns of time have left us few details as to the exact sequence of events, but eventually the water landed in the laboratory of a city chemist who declared it to be an exceptionally healthy sort that even had medicinal qualities. The analyst found silica, ferrovis bicarbonate, calcium sulfate and traces of potassium chloride, not to mention various other features.

Matt: 8:08

Darlington Jones saw dollar signs, declared his Mokena water to be superior to almost all water on the continent. Before long he had a windmill set up to pump the water from its source and was supplying it to parties in Chicago. By the summer of 1899, modest shipments of 200 to 400 gallons of the water were being made daily, with the brunt of it going to Chicago. By that fall the total number was up to 300 to 500 gallon lots going over the rails three or four times a week. That the Rock Island issued a special ticket for the shipment of the water was, in the words of the Will County Advertiser, a good indicator of business. That first year Jones was using over a thousand metal cans to transport the water. But once things really took off, specially built tank cars capable of holding a whopping 4,000 gallons were eventually used to bring the water over the railroad to market. In time the water would be bottled in a plant near the Rock Island station in Englewood. Jones had grandiose visions of turning Breezy Hill into a health retreat and even thought about having a hotel and sanitarium built on his property, but alas, for reasons unknown, these plans never came to fruition.

Matt: 9:29

At this early date, a correspondent, known simply as Carl, penned a piece titled A Health Seeker Gives His Opinion of Mokena. That Was Carried by the Advertiser. He sang the praises of our village, writing that the eye here commands a large scope of country and the view presented is wonderfully beautiful, going on to say that the well-tilled farms with their growing crops and the shocks of gathered grain lend enchantment. Before raiding Mokena, businesses as being represented by industrious, progressive and energetic persons. However, he heaped the best praise on the mineral springs. With all of these things, there is still greater thing to boast of, which, in a year or two, will make Mokena a world-renowned town you have a cool, pure and health-producing water. He went on to reference the famous sprudel water of Carlsbad, the renowned spa town in today's Czech Republic, and, with no small amount of pride, boasted that the chemical analysis of Jones's spring shows it to be better. I 21 points. It's superior. Carl saw the village's newfound spring as a wave to ride and ended his piece by proclaiming there was a bright and prosperous future before Mokena.

Matt: 10:47

At Christmastime 1901, darlington and Hattie Jones took their profits and ran, unloading the operation to Frank E Chamberlain and Albert P Stevens of Joliet on December 15th. The Joneses had built up a nice little nest egg, ultimately selling the farm and spring for a tidy $20,000, vastly more than what they paid for it. The Jolietons hired Martin Brinkerhoff to be their manager, who lived on site. Joneses went swimmingly into the first years of the 20th century, which remarked as a busy time for the new concern.

Matt: 11:22

In the spring of 1902, when unusually large shipments were going via the Rock Island to Chicago and Joliet, the stuff was whimsically referred to by the county press as the nectar that Jupiter sips. At this time the first specific claims regarding the medicinal power of the water began to surface, with a report from April of 1900 lauding its magic at healing rheumatic and kidney troubles. It was also known to be a laxative which, in a moment of levity Mokena historian Florence Pittman would later remark that it was certainly more palatable than castor oil which was in widespread use at the time. A year later, an itinerant tea seller ran against village authorities for violating inordinance and, well in custody, made a claim that a legless man had the member restored by a liberal use of the water. All outrageous claims considered. Mokena was looked upon to be the picture of health in these years, due in no small part to our water. A November 1903 report in the Lockport Phoenix Advertiser credited this stuff with giving villagers longevity, noting that in the immediate vicinity there are 30 people upward of 70 years of age and at least 6 are over 80, with 2 or 3 getting well up to the 4 score and 10 mark. All this in a time when the average life expectancy for an American male was 49 years.

Matt: 12:50

Business sallied forth at Mineral Springs and by April 1908, the company was shipping out about two railroad cars of water a week. Nevertheless, the concern garnered some bad press in the autumn of 1908, through owner Frank Chamberlain, the premier publication of the county seat, the Joliet Weekly News, shouted from the headlines of its September 17, 1908 issue Waterman's Wife Seeks Divorce and laid out a laundry list of smears against him. Chamberlain's wife Virginia was seeking a separation on the grounds of extreme cruelty, going on to allege that the three servants in their home were ordered to pay no attention to her and that her husband spends much of his time sitting around the kitchen with the hired man, reading novels and cheap literature, not to mention the fact that he was affected by the excessive use of tobacco, maybe as a result of the divorce, franky Chamberlain and Albert P Stevens sold the Moquina water operation to Kate Knox, a well-to-do Chicago woman of some means. The two sellers took a hit, receiving only $10,000 less than half of what they paid for the spring and farm on top of it. However, when the transaction was completed in the first days of 1909, the red tape of the back-and-forth between the parties stipulated that Mrs Knox was to hand over $5,000 worth of mineral water to Chamberlain.

Matt: 14:19

As the era of Kate Knox's ownership dawned, the idea was born to pipe the water directly north from the spring to the Rock Island Railroad in the village. It was a notion that came about in fits and starts. Almost as soon as it started, the thought was ditched. Then it came about again in October 1909, but a new bump in the road surfaced in the form of Moquina liveryman Henry Stillwagon. In order to get where a standpipe was being built east of W H Beckstein's grain elevator, the pipeline had to traverse Stillwagon's land along today's Moquina Street, just south of McGoverni Street, a road which did not exist at the time. Stillwagon was finessed and, a little before Thanksgiving, ultimately gave his permission for the pipeline to be built. To make the whole thing work, a three-horsepower engine was built. It was installed in the spring house at Breezy Hill.

Matt: 15:18

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and in time the Moquina mineral springs became part of history. Which begs the question of when exactly this occurred. The date that last drops of water were pumped is long since lost to the winds of time. As late as 1912, the village's crack baseball team was still being called the Mineral Water Boys, and the last reference to a shipment of product from the spring comes in a March 1915 news piece. It is reasonable to surmise that the water business in Moquina ceased operations in the years before Moquina's entry into the First World War.

Matt: 15:56

During her tenure on the property, kate Knox greatly improved the farm and turned it into a first-rate poultry operation. Having built a big chicken house in the spring of 1911, raising untold number of birds, she moved back to the windy city in the summer of 1921 and sold Breezy Hill to a Mr Patterson of the same place for $18,000. When the sale was first reported by Moquina's news bulletin, the place was still called Mineral Springs, despite the fact that it appears no water had been lifted from there in quite some time Now, unlike from horseback contracts of Coins of oyck or a Meine, a disastrous fire less than a year later, in March 1922, decimated the historic decades-old house on the estate. Nevertheless, the burned house wasn't the only residence at Breezy Hill. Its sister, the larger domicile built during the Nox years, still stands on today's Mokena Street, it being later the home of Mayor Charles Swanburg.

Matt: 16:51

In the aftermath of the fire, Mr Patterson of Chicago wasn't long for the place, he having no interest in rebuilding the lost house. In turn, he sold the acreage to John and Jesse Gilmore, who had been working there the past ten years. Local historian Florence Pittman estimated that millions of gallons of water were sold during the existence of Mokena mineral springs, one of the most unique businesses our community has ever seen. The operation would come to lend its name to Mokena's first modern subdivision, built immediately after the end of the Second World War on the grounds of the old farm. Next time your thirst needs quenching and you're enjoying the refreshing goodness from far off the distant Lake Michigan, just don't forget the nectar of Jupiter that is right beneath our own feet.

Israel: 17:41

Alright. So this property, just a little recap initially was purchased in 1898 for $2,600. Yes, and then jumped to 1901 and the property, now that it has this wealth of water, sells for $20,000. Yeah, really spiked. And then 1909 sells for $10,000, plus the $5,000 in water, mineral water, and I thought I wondered how they delivered that to him, where it went.

Matt: 18:22

Yeah, no, that's the question. That is begged. Unfortunately, I don't know how they got it to him and then what he ultimately did with it.

Israel: 18:29

Just fill up his swimming pool for a leg to grow back and then 1921 sells for $18,000. So it kind of jumps all over the place. You get it back In 1921, it was at this point not really selling as a business anymore as a water source.

Israel: 18:51

But interesting, the house that still sits there so you have a good picture of it here on the blog. Yeah, so be sure to check that out. But it's a noticeable house because it stands out a little bit now. It's got that really wide front porch, that's got like I assume there's windows, but you see that awnings kind of cover everything and high bushes and has a really long garage. Yeah, kind of.

Matt: 19:19

It's really unique yeah.

Israel: 19:21

Now this property you said was built when Kate Knox owned the property.

Matt: 19:26

Yes, yeah. So the house that's there on Moquina Street today, that some will remember as being Meriswanburg's house, was originally built during Kate Knox's tenure on the farm. That house must have been built around around 1910 or 11 or so thereabouts.

Israel: 19:45

And was that her property? Like did she live in that house? Then she must have?

Matt: 19:49

yes, because she did live on the property. I think she may have wintered somewhere, if I remember correctly. But yeah, she did live here on Moquina, on the farm, so she would have lived in one of the at least two houses that were there.

Israel: 20:05

And do you know, did she have any family? She married, or any kids or anything?

Matt: 20:10

She good question. I believe she was a widow by the time she came onto our scene, and whether or not she had any children or though or not, I'm not sure. Yeah.

Israel: 20:22

So, and at this point it's still the full, like the boundaries. You said you know the port to Denny, across to the Yonker Farm, and is it? Do you know, was it all being farmed like planting? And I mean I thought was what the makeup of? I mean it's still a very tree filled area. Now you drive through and a lot of big mature trees. Yeah, yeah, do you have any idea, besides the animals, what was going on there?

Matt: 20:53

Yeah, I. There are pictures that show. I can think of at least one that shows something growing. There be it.

Matt: 21:02

It might have been it wasn't corn or anything like that the picture looks like it might have been wheat or oats or something. Of course, years later, after Mrs Knox, it was referred to as a truck farm. Before Mineral Springs the subdivision was built. Things like tomatoes and, you know, vegetables and things like that were grown there. But during her time I'd imagine that something was being grown there, but what exactly that was, I'm not sure, unfortunately.

Israel: 21:33

And obviously as a sole farm, I wouldn't assume. Do you know where the roads that were there any? Was the road makeup similar at that time or yeah, that's a good question.

Matt: 21:45

There was a farm lane that led to the houses that let's see how to describe this that went south from today's intersection of Mokena Street and Denny Avenue. At that time Mokena Street didn't proceed any further south than Denny Denny Avenue. However, there was a little lane that went from there that kind of snaked along to the houses. Doesn't kind of sort of followed where that southern portion of Mokena Street is now, but not totally OK. I'm sure it kind of curved around a little bit.

Israel: 22:26

But and then with their main drive, gone south to the port.

Matt: 22:32

Or was there a main road, do you know, that went through the port Based on old aerial photos, they're the oldest of which are from the 30s. So this is after Mrs Knox. After mineral springs there is no road or lane or anything that went from the farm to the port road. But who knows, maybe there had been way before then. We don't know.

Israel: 22:56

But yeah, and so talking about you kind of clarified there with Mokena Street was not built at that time, right, but talk a little bit more about that pipeline process. So the they were trying to pump the water directly from the house or here where the well was Right up to behind, etc. Behind Zapp, yeah, right next to the, the Bexteen grain elevator.

Matt: 23:25

Yeah, right, right, there was a standpipe there.

Israel: 23:28

So, and then from there they were going to fill up tanker trucks or the tankers directly. The water is that right.

Matt: 23:35

Yeah, on the railroad, and so what that?

Israel: 23:36

way what? Maybe just clarify a little bit then what that route was. Where was the land of Stellwagon?

Matt: 23:49

Yeah, the Stellwagon's property was along Mokena Street and right about around McGoverni Street. There are some let's see how to describe this If we have Mokena Street as it leads a little further south from where Zapp Tacos is now on the east side of the road. There are a few houses there now and that area right there was some property that Henry still wagon owned and the pipeline had to come through that eventually and he wasn't a fan of the idea at first but after some back and forth and doing it, he finally gave his permission, or they gave him some money or something like that, and then it was finally built and they were able to have their pipeline directly from the spring.

Israel: 24:41

It's really impressive to think about the amount of water that they were pumping out of there.

Matt: 24:46

Yeah.

Israel: 24:47

Especially now, when you think that's just a neighborhood.

Matt: 24:50

Yeah, right, right.

Israel: 24:52

It would have likely been just the neighborhood's drinking water or a small area, depending on how big it is underneath or what's flowing there.

Matt: 25:00

Oh, absolutely.

Israel: 25:02

Yeah, really interesting. And again, now I mean bottled water. If it's not from some mountain in Europe, people don't want to drink it. Mokena was the place for bottled water back in the day, it was Absolutely.

Matt: 25:17

It was yeah, interesting Something to be proud of, absolutely yeah.

Israel: 25:23

And you mentioned Mayor Swenberg and he was elected mayor in 1961. And lived in that house there. So yeah, next time you're going down Mokena Street, take a look at that house there.

Matt: 25:35

Yeah.

Israel: 25:36

And that backs up to the. Younger Farm field there as well. All right, anything else, matt, you want to say about this? Not?

Matt: 25:46

really no, Just that. I think it's a really cool story and it's one that people really don't think about anymore. But it was the first really big business that came to town. That really put us on the map there.

Israel: 26:01

And the process. So when we talk about water, and then obviously the town's water, another big water deal in town was when we finally switched over to Lake Michigan. Water from all water. That's right. Yeah, and you were here in that time.

Matt: 26:21

I was yeah.

Israel: 26:22

What do you remember about that process?

Matt: 26:24

Yeah, I just remember that it was a process that really went on just for a really long time, a lot of back and forth.

Matt: 26:33

If I remember correctly, the question of you know if Mokenians should pay more to get Lake Michigan water went up to referendum multiple times before it eventually finally went through.

Matt: 26:48

I do remember that whole thing being kind of a tough sell on a lot of local people because I mean, for the most part we had At least in my opinion we had pretty good well water, pretty good moquina water here. I know of a few places in town where you know if you turned on the water you'd get like a really bad sulfur smell, that kind of thing. But I mean, for the most part the water here was fine. So a lot of people weren't keen on having to pay more for their water bill to have Lake Michigan water out here. But I kind of think what happened, at least as I remember it from back then, is that the town was growing and growing and growing and after X amount of times of having the question on referendum there, finally was just enough people in town that were used to having Lake Michigan water from wherever they came from and were willing to pay for it, to have it here too, sure yeah.

Israel: 27:56

I remember I mean, there must have been a day or a time where it was like just switched over.

Matt: 28:02

Yeah, I do. I remember the first day we had Lake Michigan water coming into the house it was noticeably different in, especially in its aroma. It smelled and of course I'm used to it now and you know I would never even notice it now after all these years but it definitely had a lot more of kind of like a chlorine smell to it and it just did not strike me as being appetizing. It's like I don't want to drink this stuff. You know it's like pool water, but I mean you know we got used to it and it's, you know it's fine.

Matt: 28:36

Nobody, nobody thinks twice about it. I mean it is, it is a little cleaner than Moquino water, because I remember when I was little we had a dishwasher but my parents never used it. And I asked one time, I asked my mom why we never used the dishwasher or dishwasher and she said it was because Moquino water is very hard and it would leave like a, you know, kind of like a film or a residue or something on your glasses or whatever. But you know there were pros and cons.

Israel: 29:09

Yeah, parents like to use that, that's to get your kids to wash the dishes yeah right, yeah yeah yeah, no, yeah, I don't know. We've had hard water different places and it's it's definitely an improvement Over that.

Matt: 29:23

Yeah.

Israel: 29:23

But yeah, no, that's interesting because I wonder, you know it's probably all of Moquino is standing around their faucets, you know, getting trying the new water.

Matt: 29:33

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Some people complain and some people enjoying it. Yeah, right, right.

Israel: 29:41

Interesting though, yeah, I mean, and that's a big, big event for a town too. Oh sure, yeah, it helps, helps growth, I'm sure. Oh, definitely it did, yeah. So, yeah, well, great, A really good, a really good article. Like I said, we'll post the pictures They've got. You know, it shows a picture of kind of where the house in the area where the well was and then you kind of mentioned, but there was the other house was gone that burnt down, but right Sat kind of close in that area as well, but not in the footprint of right any of the homes that are there now. Exactly, great, well, thanks again, matt, for sharing this story.

Matt: 30:23

You're welcome, really interesting.

Israel: 30:25

And I'm going to go drink a glass of water now?

Matt: 30:26

Yeah, I know you kind of want to, don't you? Absolutely yeah.

Israel: 30:30

Matt and I both really hope that you're enjoying the podcast and that you enjoyed this episode. We would really appreciate it if you would share our podcast with your friends or family, as well as leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Music or wherever you hear our podcast. We'd love to hear your show ideas or your questions so you can send us an email at podcast@ Mokenasfrontporch. com, or on Facebook through Messenger, or through our website, which is Mokenasfrontporchcom. You can send us a message there. We have a link in the show notes to Matt's blog post that this episode was based on. We have some great things coming up and we're really excited to share with you. So thanks for listening and we'll see you next time on Mokinasfront Porch.