The Founder

George Washington Faulstich founded the Black Mountain Spring Water Company in 1937, and it was, until being purchased by Nestle in 1999, the largest independently-owned bottled water company in the United States.

However, long before Black Mountain became a popular brand enjoyed by 75,000 homes and businesses in the Bay Area, and on foodstore shelves throughout the West, George’s strategy was to buy land and build upon it.

George and his wife Altha built homes for their own family then their three daughters and their families. Businesses and plants soon followed when many of the patents that he and his grandson Joe “Sparky” Bullock designed became businesses in their own right;, such as the Cap Snap Seal, the world’s first plastic, snap-on bottle cap. When you pull off a plastic sealed cap on a bottle today, you’ll know who created it.

As the family grew and the businesses demanded more, it was George and Joe who founded Three Sisters Ranch Enterprises to develop commercial, retail and residential real estate throughout Northern California. All the while, the water company was generating double-digit growth year after year under Joe’s leadership.

The philosophy that George instilled in everyone was to work hard, give the very best service to the customers, and deliver the highest possible quality. Today that philosophy is at work at Black Mountain Properties. George would be proud.