Famous Mineral Water Company

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this one. Now, Edward P. Dismuke arrived in Mineral Wells around 1900, and if you know anything about a man who would live from 1860 all the way to 1957, you know he was not the kind of fellow who sat still for long.

He got to town, took a look around, and apparently decided the place needed a lake. So he and a man named Cicero Smith went and built one, west of town, in 1904. Not just a hole in the ground, mind you.

A recreational lake, complete with picnic areas and a scenic railroad. The whole affair. Now here is where the story takes a turn, because when Dismuke and Smith dug a well out there, just looking for drinking water, they found something else entirely.

A new supply of mineral water, sitting right there under the Texas dirt, waiting to be discovered. Mineral Wells, living up to its name one more time. Dismuke started selling that water at the Dameron Hotel first, testing the waters, so to speak, before he went all in.

Then, in 1913, he opened the Famous Mineral Water Company, and set up a drinking pavilion where folks could come and get the water and other products dispensed right there in front of them. Now a lot of things from that era are long gone, buried under time and progress. But those Famous Mineral Water Company wells are still out there, and they are still the only wells in town accessible to the public.

Edward Dismuke dug deep, in more ways than one, and something of his is still flowing.

What the marker says

Edward P. Dismuke (1860-1957) came to Mineral Wells about 1900. He and Cicero Smith built a recreational lake west of town in 1904, complete with picnic areas and a scenic railroad. When they dug a well for drinking water they discovered a new supply of mineral water. After first selling the water in the Dameron Hotel, Dismuke opened the famous Mineral Water Company in 1913, dispensing the water and other products from a drinking pavilion. The famous Mineral Water Company wells are the only ones in town still accessible to the public. (1990)