Lockville's Beer

Lockville's Beer- Gold top- It started the Canal Winchester National Bank!


Lockville would be very popular name today in bottled water circles if Jefferson Springs bottled water were still being produced. Jefferson Springs water and the bottle house were on the edge of Lockville in the former Smauels mansion. This bottle house still stands and is a private residence today (2007). It is likely The Jefferson Springs Bottled Water name came from the near by Jefferson Road named for Tomas Jefferson the president that "granted the land" for Lockville. I suspect all of Lockville water was same water Jefferson Springs was and it was OK but very hard. I suspect it would not meet the exceptions of modern bottled water customers.

Lockville had some natural geography, well OK, it is near the creak bottom and close to prime swamp land and the lowest point in miles so naturally water flows easier from there. They simply built the bottled water plant over spring. You must remember in the 1800s naturally flowing water was a godsend as there were few wells and no pumps yet. Bottled Water then was a necessity not a cool thing to be seen drinking. Bottled Water doesn't hold the designer status of a billion dollar water industry like it does today.

Well, now, add Jefferson Springs water base to beer and the mash from the near by Moore Farm and bottled water soon became GOLD TOP BEER.
Gold top was Lockville's' Very Own brand of beer and its slogan was
"Drink Gold Top Old Top" Today I think Goldtop might well be on par with a micro brewery as it was made in a barn for starters.

I think (will try to confirm this) the bottling operation and brewery were in the middle of Downtown Lockville (current Pickerington Road). The "monster mash" well OK, hog feed form the near by Moore Farm was discovered to better off being fermented for beer and it was worth more as beer rather than hog feed. As I heard it from some older Lockville residents Prohibition came to town and Moores took the money from the closed brewery and started The Canal Winchester National Bank with it. That bank is no longer but it was merged in the late 1970s (I think) with Bank One. So, it seems Lockville also had another chance of "stardom," but like always Lockville slept threw the chance. That is what we like about our sleepy little town.