Anyone who has researched Nashua people, places or things likely came across some mention of the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company, which Nashua businessmen Sanford and George Small founded in 1882. This photo, probably taken around the turn of the century, shows employees in front of the company's headquarters, which at the time was at 39 Elm St., after it moved from its original site on Lowell Street. While the offices were in Nashua, the spring from which the Smalls "harvested" their water was in Londonderry, hence the name. The product sold briskly, based mainly on vigorous, nationwide marketing campaigns that extolled the supposed health benefits of lithia spring water. But around 1920, the newly formed U.S. Food and Drug Administration questioned the benefits of lithia, resulting in the company dropping "lithia" from its name. The company would eventually close, crippled by several years of declining sales.

Anyone who has researched Nashua people, places or things likely came across some mention of the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company, which Nashua businessmen Sanford and George Small founded in 1882. This photo, probably taken around the turn of the century, shows employees in front of the company’s headquarters, which at the time was at 39 Elm St., after it moved from its original site on Lowell Street. While the offices were in Nashua, the spring from which the Smalls ‘harvested’ their water was in Londonderry, hence the name. The product sold briskly, based mainly on vigorous, nationwide marketing campaigns that extolled the supposed health benefits of lithia spring water. But around 1920, the newly formed U.S. Food and Drug Administration questioned the benefits of lithia, resulting in the company dropping “lithia” from its name. The company would eventually close, crippled by several years of declining sales. (Courtesy of NASHUA HISTORICAL SOCIETY)