In 1925, Burton N. Arnds, Sr., Glen Bollinger and Arthur L. Washburne formed the Sparkling Artesian Water Company. The company began in a modest industrial building at its current site, tapping into the plentiful natural water source, Indian Head Springs, hundreds of feet underground. In its first few years of operation, fostered by clever marketing techniques, the company saw massive growth. By 1927, the company owned a fleet of 52 delivery trucks. By 1928, the company was delivering more than 1.2 million gallons of water in 5-gallon bottles.

In 1929, construction began for a $200,000 water bottling plant that would be one of the largest and most modern worldwide. The plant would utilize brass pipes that could pump 237,600 gallons of per day from the natural well below the facility and directly into sanitized glass bottles. Bottles could be shipped to any city between Santa Barbara and Mexico at the time.

The architect of the plant, Richard D. King, designed the facility in the Moorish Revival style and the building was branded as an “oasis in a desert.” The building combines traditional features of the Moorish Revival style, such as a series of smooth hemispheric domes, a classical arched portico, elaborate wrought iron lanterns, and a decorative tile mural depicting an oasis scene, with more utilitarian industrial vernacular architecture.