Pearson, John, Soda Works - Placerville, CA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

"The John Pearson Soda Works, also referred to as the Placerville Soda Works, is an historic building in Placerville, California. It currently houses a coffee shop, Cozmic Café. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 12, 1985.

The structure was built in several stages: The previous building on the site burned down in a devastating fire that affected most of Placerville in the 1850s. Scottish immigrant John McFarland Pearson built the lower portion of the building in 1859 as a commercial ice house. He chose to build in front of an idle mine shaft so he could use the underground rooms and tunnels to store ice at controlled temperatures. In addition, the walls of this section were made 22 inches (0.56 m) thick to keep the ice cool in the storefront. Pearson later expanded into soda water; his sons added the brick second story in 1897 to house the bottling operation. They added a water-driven elevator to transport the product from each level. The store also sold other groceries such as eggs and beer.

The business changed hands several times, though the building remained in the Pearson family for some time. The Pearson sons sold the business in 1904 to the Scherrer Bros., who in turn sold it in 1934 to Robert Hook who turned it into a Coca-Cola Bottling franchise. The structure held other businesses until the Pearson family sold the building in 1972 to Roger John Douvres, an antique collector, who restored the structure over a period of four years and used the lower section as an old-fashioned soda fountain and the upper portion as an elegant dining hall decorated in early turn of the 20th century atmosphere. Douvres' daughter had the building successfully placed on the NRHP. The structure has also housed a theater, antique store, bookstore, music store and the Placerville Coffee House before becoming The Cozmic Café in 2003.

Another nearby soda works building, the Fountain-Tallman Soda Works, is also listed on the NRHP." (visit link)

Street address: 594 Main St. Placerville, CA USA County / Borough / Parish: El Dorado Year listed: 1985 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event Periods of significance: 1850-1874, 1875-1899 Historic function: Agriculture/Subsistence, Commerce/Trade Current function: Commerce/Trade Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/15/2015 sbcamper visited it 07/14/2010 saopaulo1 visited it

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