First Coca-Cola Bottling Company In The United States
On July 21, 1899, two Chattanooga lawyers, Benjamin Franklin Thomas and Joseph Brown Whitehead, signed a contract with the Coca-Cola Company granting them the exclusive rights to bottle Coca-Cola in most of the United States. Another Chattanooga citizen, John Thomas Lupton, provided financial backing for the future development of the bottling business. The first Coca-Cola Bottling Company began operations at this site in November 1899.
Marker is on Patten Parkway.
Courtesy hmdb.org
