Coca-Cola Bottling detail (Closed)
Sanford, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

In Sanford, NC, is unquestionably the most elaborate of the Coca-Cola bottling plants. While all the others in style appear to date from the late 30's to early 50's time period, this old bottling plant in Sanford probably dates to the teens. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for photos and info. 03-08

Look closely at the roofline of Sanford's old Coca-Cola Bottling building and you'll spot something worth stopping for: tiny Coke bottles worked right into the decorative trim. Between the colorful terra cotta, patterned brickwork, and elaborate cornice, this former bottling plant did much of its advertising through the building itself. It's quite a change from the plain industrial buildings you usually find along the road.

The property's bottling history reaches back to the early 1900s, with a bottling works appearing on maps by 1908. Later remodeling and expansion gave the building its distinctive Art Deco appearance. Beige, brown, green, and yellow details dress up the facade, while those little bottles leave no doubt about the product once made inside. Even without a large roadside marquee, the company found a memorable way to put its name before the public.

Coca-Cola Bottling
Sanford, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

Coca-Cola continued bottling here into the 1970s before moving to a larger facility. The old building then spent years as storage space until restoration began in the 1990s. Rather than stripping away its industrial character, the renovation retained exposed brick, heavy doors, and traces of old painted murals, giving the interior reminders of its working days.

UPDATE: The Historic Coke Building now houses offices and commercial spaces. Its distinctive exterior and miniature bottle decorations survive, preserving one of downtown Sanford's most unusual pieces of advertising architecture. 11-26

Coca-Cola Bottling detail Sanford, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss	Coca-Cola Bottling Sanford, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

Coca-Cola Bottling (now Christo's Restaurant)
Lexington, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

Here is the former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant from Lexington, NC. The buildings that once housed the operations for the bottling plant are now used for Christo's Restaurant. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 03-08

Built during Coca-Cola's great bottling expansion of the 1930s, the plant supplied soft drinks to Lexington and surrounding communities for decades. Like hundreds of other local bottling plants across the country, it eventually became a victim of industry consolidation as production shifted to much larger regional facilities. The bottling lines fell silent in the early 1970s, and the building spent nearly thirty years sitting empty.

Fortunately, the old plant wasn't lost. In 2002 the building was completely renovated and reopened as Christo's Original, a popular family-owned Italian restaurant founded by Christos Papaioannou. The spacious old factory proved to be a perfect fit, and today diners enjoy pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and other favorites inside a building that once bottled thousands of cases of Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola Bottling (now Christo's Restaurant)
Lexington, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

While the familiar Coca-Cola signs disappeared years ago, the sturdy brick building still hints at its original purpose. It's another great example of how many old bottling plants have found successful second careers, allowing these familiar roadside landmarks to remain part of the community long after the last bottle rolled off the line.

UPDATE: More than two decades after its transformation, the former bottling plant continues to thrive as Christo's Original, preserving another piece of North Carolina's Coca-Cola history through adaptive reuse rather than demolition. 07-26