1794: Jabez Ricker makes a land swap with the Shaker religious community in Alfred, Maine, for land in Bakerstown (present-day Poland). Shortly after their arrival to the property, travelers, looking for a place to stay, knock on their door and the innkeeping business begins.
1797: The Ricker family opens the Wentworth Ricker Inn, later known as the Mansion House, as a stagecoach stop.
1809: Hiram Ricker, founder of Poland Spring Water, is born.
1834: Hiram takes over the business from his father Wentworth.
1844: Suffering from dyspepsia, Hiram drinks freely from the spring on the property and is cured. Although an uncle and his father both had similar experiences, Hiram was the first to proclaim that the spring had medicinal properties.
1845: Hiram begins to share the water with neighbors and friends, bottling the mineral water in demijohns.
1859: The family makes its first commercial sales of Poland Water selling the water through a cousin in Portland and through other agents. 1860 Dr. Eliphalet Clark of Portland begins to prescribe Poland Mineral Spring Water to patients.
1869: Hiram turns over management of the family business to his eldest son, Edward “E.P.” Ricker, who oversees the first major enlargements of the Mansion House and other changes on Ricker Hill.
1875: Alvan Bolster “A.B.” Ricker joins the firm. Historically, AB oversees the kitchen and farms and focuses on the massive food needs of the growing resort.
1876: The Poland Spring House is constructed due to the popularity of the water and increase in demand for rooms. The Moses bottle is created in celebration of the opening of the new hotel. The Mansion House continues to be used as a year-round hotel.
1881: Hiram Weston Ricker joins the family firm. Hiram will focus on water sales and will also help to organize the Maine Publicity Bureau (Maine Tourism Association) and the Maine Automobile Association.
1893: Hiram Ricker, patriarch of Poland Spring, dies. Poland Water receives an award at the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago for purity — its first major international recognition
1894: At the conclusion of the Exposition, the family purchases the Maine State Building from the state and has it shipped to the resort grounds.
1895: In celebration of the centennial of Poland and their settlement at Poland Spring, the Rickers re-dedicate the Maine State Building as a library and art gallery. Nettie Ricker, the youngest daughter of Hiram and Janette, oversees the art gallery.
1896: Poland Spring opens what will become the oldest golf course at a resort in the United States. The course, originally nine holes, was designed by Arthur Fenn, who is regarded as the first American-born golf professional and designer.
1904: Poland Water exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and receives the Grand Prize, “Besting all of the waters of the world.”
1907: The new bottling and spring house are completed. Designed by Harry C. Wilkinson, it exhibits model hygiene and modernity as well as elegance and craftsmanship
1912: Poland Spring Resort’s All Souls Chapel, an interdenominational place of worship, is opened.
1913: The Riccar Inn (today known as the Presidential Inn) is opened.
1933: With the repeal of Prohibition, owners sell the use of the Moses bottle to a distillery in the hope of bringing in new revenue.
1936-7: Declining business, bad debts and leadership succession issues cripple the Ricker enterprises. A reorganized Hiram Ricker & Sons takes control of the resort and water company.
1946: Charles Ricker, the last of the Ricker family members to be involved in Hiram Ricker & Sons, leaves the board of directors.
1962: Saul Feldman purchases Poland Spring Resort and Water. He is the last to own the original 5,000-acre estate and resort and water businesses as one entity.
1963: Feldman builds the Maine Inn to use in place of the Mansion House, which didn’t offer the privacy and amenities needed to attract guests.
1966: Poland Spring Resort becomes the site of the largest women’s training center of the Job Corps program until its closure in 1969. All of the resort buildings are used for the program.
1972: Mel Robbins, an investor from Boston, begins operating the Poland Spring Resort, though still owned by Feldman.
1973: Feldman sells Poland Spring Water Company to Perrier.
1975: On the night of July 3rd, the vacant Poland Spring House catches fire and is leveled. As the building had not been used for several years, it was not insured and never rebuilt. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
1977: Perrier sells Poland Spring Water Company to Paul den Haene who builds a new larger and more modern plant on another part of the property. The nonprofit Poland Spring Preservation Society takes over ownership of the Maine State Building and All Souls Chapel and begins to oversee the restoration of the two historic structures.
1978: The dilapidated remains of the Mansion House are consumed by fire, removing the old Ricker homestead from the hill.
1980: The Perrier Group (later bought by what is now Nestle Waters North America) re-acquires the brand from den Haene in hopes that it can make the once-proud company profitable again.
1982: Mel Robbins and wife, Cyndi, transition from operating the Poland Spring Resort to owning it through a purchase from Feldman.
1985: Poland Spring Water becomes the leading natural spring water brand in the United States.
1998: Restoration begins on the historic bottling plant and springhouse.
2000: Poland Spring Water opens its second bottling facility in Hollis, Maine.
2002: Poland Spring Preservation Park is opened with the fully restored former bottling facility and springhouse as well as several miles of recreational trails.
2009: Poland Spring Water opens a third bottling facility in Kingfield, Maine.
2020: The Poland Spring brand celebrates its 175th Anniversary.
2021: One Rock Capital Partners, in partnership with Metropoulos & Co., acquire Nestlé Waters North America and the company is renamed BlueTriton Brands.
Source: Poland Spring Preservation Society, display in the bottling museum
Send questions/comments to the editors.
