This will be the first occasion to explore businesses that were prominent early bottlers in Holyoke. Until 1882, the Holyoke City Directory had not identified this beverage category in its annual directories. However, this changed in 1882 when a listing of five bottlers was identified, including the Holyoke Bottling Works.
The earliest newspaper reference to the Holyoke Bottling Works was in 1882, when the business was operated by L. A. Cutler at 30 John Street. The concern advertised that it bottled lagers, soda, mineral waters, etc. Mr. Cutler operated the business for about 4 years, transferring ownership to Robert M. Lane around 1886.
The business added several items to its beverage line, including lemon, tonic, birch beer, ginger ale, and sarsaparilla. In 1889, Mr. Lane relocated to Hoosac Falls, NY, where he planned to open a bottling factory.
Mr. Lane sold the building to James Garaghty, who would raze the wooden structure at 30 John Street to make way for a new building to be constructed by W. P. Griswold. The building would house P. J. Murray's & Co., Inc.'s wholesale business. It was noted that the former bottling works structures held historical significance as the location of the Town of Holyoke's first police station.
Holyoke Bottling Works continued under the direction of C. N. Deragon, who operated at 52 and then 106 Lyman Street until 1896. At that time, Mr. Deragon sold his business to William Jamieson, who had worked for 8 years for George H. Winn, another bottler. One year later, there were 23 bottlers listed in the Holyoke City Directory.
Mr. Jamieson was originally from Burke, NY, and he relocated the business to 90 Lyman Street. He updated the equipment to include new generators, cylinders, two bottling tables, an engine, and a boiler, and upgraded the facility. His plant was capable of producing 500 dozen bottles a day. He bottled about eight soda flavors, as well as ales, porters, and lagers. He had three teams of horses to transport the beverages to residential and commercial customers.
Mr. Jamieson continued to operate the business until about 1920, when it was sold to Frank Werenski, who relocated the business to 51 Union Street. This was the beginning of many years of Holyoke Bottling Works under the Werenski family's ownership, production, and supervision. Blending lemon and lime, the drink Lemonella was developed and advertised as a refreshing, thirst-quenching beverage.
The plant moved to 80 High Street about 1923, while retaining the 51 Union Street site as a warehouse. The company remained at the address and announced it would end bottling in 1955, as it, along with several other local bottlers, could not compete with the new, larger bottling companies, such as Country Club Soda.
However, the plan changed, and the bottling company continued. In February 1961, Frank Werenski died, leaving majority ownership of the bottling company to his son and daughter-in-law, William F. and Josephine Werenski. Ownership of the Werenski Package Store Inc. at 80 High Street was also left to them.
The bottling company relocated to 37 High Street, where it operated through the 1960s. The Riverview Urban Renewal project was on the horizon, and the portion of High Street between Lyman and Pulaski Park would later be discontinued.
On November 29 and 30, and December 31, 1971, an auction sale was conducted to liquidate the machinery and equipment of the Holyoke Bottling Works, closing the book on its 90 years in Holyoke.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Genealogy Records and Price & Lee, Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
