Chamberlin Springs

[1] Chamberlin moved near Beloit, Wisconsin at a young age and his parents settled the 160 acres where the site lies today.

[1] In 1875, the brothers began to market the site as a water source, but it quickly became a regional sensation with bottles being distributed and sold throughout the Midwest.

According to an 1870s brochure put out by the group, the iodine and bromine contents, lack of organic material, and minerals such as lime gave the water remarkable purity.

[3] These qualities, they claimed, gave the water healing properties for a wide variety of health issues such as diabetes, liver ailments, rheumatism, and kidney disease.

[1][7] For those unable to reach the springs, the Iodo-Magnesian Company ran a business which distributed and sold the water by the bottle, keg, and even barrel.

[5] Since the summer of 2012 however, an ongoing restoration project has cleared the immediate area around the spring of invasive overgrowth, removed vegetation to establish a trail and small parking lot, and even erected a locally sourced limestone pillar gate to mark the entrance of the property.

Additionally, students attending Beloit College also continue to perform research about various topics on site, including hydrology and sustainability.

Possible archaeological techniques for examining the site include dendrochronology, Ground Penetrating Radar, Geographic Information Systems Analysis (GIS), and shovel excavations.

A cistern at the Chamberlin Springs site, potentially where the water was bottled in the late 1800s.
Picnics and other social events would have taken place in this area just above the springs.
A picture of the actual springs on site. The lightly colored, sandy area is where the water escapes from the ground.
A piece of manufactured wood discovered at the Chamberlin Springs site, 2017.