Leander Baltzer began beverage bottling in Covington in the 1890s when he founded Covington Bottling Works. Baltzer acquired the rights to bottle Coca-Cola in 1909 from J. D. Pidgeon of Memphis, and a partnership was formed, creating the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Covington. This first location was located in Covington’s Depot area, in the building later used by World Wide Color.
In 1940, Baltzer acquired total ownership of the Coca-Cola franchise and contracted Memphis architect Everett Woods to design a new bottling plant. Built between 1940-1941, Beltzer, along with his sons, George and Charles, continued to bottle Coca-Cola at the Covington plant until 1979.
After that, the building was used by the Jackson Tire Company and Patterson’s Carpets. In 1997, Rose Construction, Inc. bought and restored the building for use as their offices. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has a small Coca-Cola museum on display that the public can visit.
The back of the Coca-Cola Christmas display postcard. A card was sent to Miss Lula Bradley of Troy, N.C.
