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.