Coca-Cola Bottling Plant/Pratt Bottling Company

Coca-Cola Bottling Plant/Pratt Bottling Company

Industry

In 1907, two men named Russell and Arthur Pratt of Huntsville, Alabama moved a Coca-Cola bottling facility from Sheffield to downtown Florence. The Pratt Bottling Company bottled Coca-Cola in addition to creating and manufacturing their own soft drinks and ice cream flavors. Two years later in 1909, Russell Pratt became the main distributor for Coca-Cola on the West Coast; meanwhile, Arthur Pratt left Florence to pursue Coca-Cola distribution in Newark, New Jersey and New York City, New York. Julia Pratt and manager Burt Snyder took over the operations at the Pratt Bottling Company until 1940 when the Pratt Bottling Company was sold to Walter Matthews Sr. in 1940. Eventually, the Coca-Cola bottling operations moved from downtown Florence to the Florence Industrial Park. Comcast Cable owns the old Pratt Bottling Company building located off of Court Street today.

Matthew C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama

Text Source:

Barske, Carolyn. "Images of America: Florence." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014.

Picture Source:

UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Coca-Cola Bottling Plant/Pratt Bottling Company.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-56.

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Early Twentieth-Mid to Late Twentieth Century

Image