Carlsbad Mineral Water – Carlsbad Real Estate History

As mentioned in an earlier blog, just to the west of my Real Living Lifestyles office is the Ocean House.  To the east of the our Carlsbad Village Faire office is the old Carlsbad railroad station.  Probably the most historic site is one block to the north, the home of Carlsbad Mineral Water.  A plack and statue marks the sp0t. 

In 1882 John A. Frazier chose to settle on a farm in the Carlsbad real estate area and named it Frazier’s Station.  Carlsbad Mineral Water was discovered when he drilled a well for his farm near the beach.  He had dug a well for his water supply, but discovered that the  water cured a stomach ailment from which he had suffered for years.   Intrigued, he sent samples of the water to two independent testing laboratories in New York and Chicago.  The results showed his water was chemically very similar to the water from the famous Sprudel Well Number 9, Karlsbad, Bohemia (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic).  To celebrate this fact, the name of the area was changed from Frazier’s Station to Carlsbad, California.

One of San Diego North County’s real estate booms was happening at the time, and Capt. Frazier platted his farm for the new city called Carlsbad, California.  He also started bottling his water and selling it across the nation as (The American) Carlsbad Mineral Water.  He built a huge Victorian hotel beside his original well, and people came from all over the world and included at least two U.S. presidents enjoy the mineral water for drinking and for bathing, just as they would in the European Carlsbad.  Just down the street to the south of the well was one of the famous “Twin Inns”  which is now the Ocean House, another giant piece of Carlsbad Real Estate history.

The real estate boom of the 1880s crashed, but Carlsbad’s mineral water continued to be popular until the Great Depression, when the well was abandoned because the owners lacked the funds for maintenance.

The well was lost until it was rediscovered in 1955 by Kay and “Chris” Christiansen. The Christiansens wanted to restore the well and revive the mineral-water business, but for various reasons they could not do so.  In 1991, Kay met Ludvik Grigoris, who became interested in helping her with her dream. Ludvik had been born in Karlovy Vary, when it was in Czechoslovakia and under Communist rule.

From 1993 to 1995, Ludvik and his wife Veronica worked at restoring and redrilling the well. By this time, Ludvik had been instrumental in forging a sister-city relationship between his birthplace of Karlovy Vary and Carlsbad, Calif. In late 1995, the mayor and city council of Carlsbad, along with an fficial delegation from Karlovy Vary, officiated at the formal re-opening of the Carlsbad Mineral Water Spa. In June 1996, Carlsbad Alkaline Water™ finally, ­after an absence of 60 years, ­once again became available to the public.

I am going to bring me a gallon bottle and two quarters and give it a try.  Drink up, to Carlsbad real estate history.

See Carlsbad real estate and other San Diego North County real estate, contact Gary Harmon, for your best move!