Ramsey County History – Summer 2017: “William Nettleton, John G. Wardell, and the Highland Spring Water Company in St. Paul”

William Nettleton, John G. Wardell, and the Highland Spring Water Company in St. Paul
Author: Donald L. Empson

William Nettleton (1822–1905) was born in Ohio, relocated to northern Minnesota in the early 1850s, and was one of the founders of Duluth. Around 1871, he moved again, this time to St. Paul where he bought a large farm on the western outskirts of the city. Today, this land is at the corner of Randolph and Lexington avenues. The mansion that the previous owner had built on the farm was destroyed in a fire in 1876, but Nettleton built a large, new home on the same site. Then, in 1883, he moved to Spokane, and the Nettleton family sold the St. Paul farm in 1900 to John G. Wardell, a local entrepreneur. Wardell established the Highland Spring Water Company there and took advantage of the natural spring on the property to produce bottled spring water and, for a time, carbonated beverages such as ginger ale, which he and his son sold in the city and the surrounding area. Between 1951 and 1965, the Wardell family sold portions of the property to housing developers. Although apartment buildings and a high-rise residence occupy this site today, the natural spring still flows to the surface.
PDF of Empson article