Original site of the Houston Coca-Cola Bottling Company
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Original site of the Houston Coca-Cola Bottling Company The Houston Coca-Cola Bottling Company, one of the first companies in the nation granted franchise rights for the distribution of Coca-Cola in bottles, opened its doors in a brick building on this site in 1902. J.T. Lupton of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was the primary owner. The initial purchase of syrup from the Coca-Cola Company consisted of 387 gallons of syrup, and bottled Coca-Cola was delivered by a mule-drawn wagon. In 1908, the company bought almost 3,000 gallons of syrup to meet the soda demand, which was growing along with Houston's population. In this location, they had one hand-operated bottling machine with a capacity of 250 cases a day. By 1915, sales of Coca-Cola had increased such that the company moved to larger facilities at 1212 Washington Avenue. In 1918, J.E. Evans became the plant's general manager, and during his tenure Houstonians continued to celebrate the soft drink sensation, prompting the company's continued growth. By 1948, C. Lupton Thomas, general manager, and J.E. Evans, president, developed plans for a new facility at 2800 Bissonnet. Lauded as the world's most modern Coca-Cola plant, the new million-dollar plant opened to the public in June 1950. For more than a century, the Houston Coca-Cola Bottling Company has provided jobs, as well as refreshment, to the City of Houston and surrounding areas. The company has consistently given back to the city through charity work and project funding. As one of the largest operations of its kind in the world, it continues its commitment to employees, customers and neighbors. (2003)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1902 one of the nation's first bottled-Coca-Cola franchises opened in a brick building on this Houston site, its debut order a modest 387 gallons of syrup delivered by mule-drawn wagon. A single hand-operated machine bottled up to 250 cases a day, but soaring demand soon outgrew the plant, pushing the company to ever-larger quarters and, by 1950, a million-dollar facility hailed as the world's most modern Coca-Cola plant. The operation grew alongside Houston itself from a small franchise into a major regional enterprise.
Why it matters
The rise of bottled Coca-Cola captures the birth of America's mass consumer culture, when a regional syrup became a national habit carried, at first, one mule-wagon load at a time.
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Related people
- · J.T. Lupton
- · J.E. Evans
Themes & tags
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