Original Site of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Dallas One of the first companies in the nation granted franchise rights for the distribution of Coca-Cola in bottles, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Dallas produced the city's first bottle of Coca-Cola on this site on June 10, 1902. J.T. Lupton of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was the principal owner, with an initial investment of $5,000. Three employees handled the entire operation. They were: R.D. Twinam, company manager; Mr. Dixon, the bookkeeper; and Fred Welsh, who operated the bottling machine. The employees sold 37 cases on the first day of production and delivered them in a one-horse wagon. In the bottling process, glass Coca-Cola bottles were filled by using a hand-operated, foot-powered machine that held two bottles, one beneath the syrup and the other under the filling head for the carbonated water, where the bottles also were capped. Bottles were reused and had to be hand-washed by putting cleaning fluid and steel pellets, similar to gunshot, into the bottles and shaking them vigorously. By 1905, sales of Coca-Cola had increased such that the company moved the bottling plant to 1800 Wood Street. From its small beginnings here in Deep Ellum, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Dallas, later renamed the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of North Texas, grew to more than 2,600 employees in 19 locations by its centennial in Dallas in 2002. (2002)
Original Site of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Dallas
The roadside stories worth pulling over for.
Original Site of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Dallas is a historical marker in Dallas, Dallas County, dedicated in 2002. It is one of 348 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 531 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 32.7843, -96.7852 near Dallas. The nearest cataloged historic site is Wilson Block (historical marker), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include William Sidney Pittman, Junction of the Texas & Pacific and Houston & Texas Central Railroads, and Baylor College of Dentistry.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5113012706. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
Get Texas Roam — all 28,000 sites in your pocket
See this site and every marker, cemetery, courthouse, museum and landmark across Texas on one live map — find what's near you, get directions, and check in as you roam.
