Coca-Cola In Utah

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on September 10, 2024.

(Brief remarks about Coca-Cola in Utah, mostly in Salt Lake City. The focus of this page is to gather research on this rail-served facility.)

(As a side note, this collection of former Salt Lake & Utah spurs in the vicinity of 8th and 9th South, east of West Temple street was in place into the late 1970s. Many rail entusiasts of the period recall seeing D&RGW switching these spurs. This research was in response to questions concerning the purpose of the spurs.)

Overview

The Coca-Cola bottling plant was served by a rail spur and was located at 875 South West Temple street, from 1938 to 1998. Rail service was provided originally by Salt Lake & Utah until 1947, then by Bamberger from 1947 to 1958, then by D&RGW until the spur was removed in 1977, although actual rail service ended in the late 1960s.

(View a map showing the D&RGW, ex Bamberger, ex SL&U tracks in Salt Lake City)

(View a 1946 aerial photo showing the Coca-Cola bottling plant)

Timeline

July 14, 1905
"Will Make Coca Cola -- P. J. Chafee and R. S. Patterson of Langley, S. C., are in the city. They have organized the Salt Lake Coca Cola Bottling company and will begin busines Aug. 1 in the Manitou Hotel, Third South street and Floral Avenue." (Salt Lake Herald, July 14, 1905)

September 29, 1906
Salt Lake Coca-Cola Bottling Co. was incorporated in Salt Lake County, September 29, 1906. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 30, 1906)

July 1923
The Coco Cola Bottling Co. of Salt Lake City was started in 1906 in a very small plant on Floral Ave. of this city, with one horse and wagon. This business progressed until in 1915 it was compelled to move to larger quarters and at that time moved into a large modern brick structure at the rear of 142 East 1st So., which building is 70 by 150 feet erected in 1913. At that time the plant had a delivery service of three wagons and horses. Today [1923] the present capacity is over 1,000 cases a day with a delivery equipment consisting of five automobile trucks ranging from 1 to 2-1/2 tons in capacity. The yearly output of this company is over 1,000,000 cases containing 24 bottles of Soda Water, such as Coca Cola, Root Beer, Ginger Ale and standard flavors." (Utah Payroll Builder, July 1923, Vol. 10, Number 7)

March 31, 1928
The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Utah was incorporated. The new company had recently purchased the plant of the Salt Lake Coca-Cola Bottling company. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 31, 1928)

(The Salt Lake Coca-Cola Bottling company was located at 133 South State Street.)

December 28, 1937
"Bottling Company To Build New Plant -- Plans for a new plant at Ninth South and West Temple streets, to cost between $100,000 and $150,000, were announced Tuesday [Dec. 28th] by officials of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Utah. The new plant will have a capacity of 120 bottles a minute, double that of the present plant at the rear of 133 South State street. The new structure, to be completed by June 1, will be built by the Jacobsen Construction company. The site is at the northeast corner of the intersection. The personnel will be increased about one-third." (Salt Lake Telegram, January 1, 1938)

June 1938
Coca-Cola completed its new bottling plant at 875 South on West Temple. Construction started in late January 1938 and was completed by June. (Salt Lake Telegram, January 25, 1938)

September 29, 1949
Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Utah became Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Salt Lake City. The facility was sold to the parent Coca-Cola company of Atlanta, Georgia. The bottling plant covered 40,000 square feet and produced between 650 and 700 cases per hour. The building was completed in 1938. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 29, 1949)

August 25, 1977
"Owners Okay Sale -- Shareholders of Coca Cola Bottling Co. of Salt Lake, Provo Coca Cola Bottling Co. and Bonneville Canning Co., Salt Lake City, announced Wednesday they had reached agreement in principle for sale of the properties to Swire Pacific Ltd., Hong Kong, for an undisclosed amount. Swire Pacific Ltd. is a subsdiairy of John Swire & Sons Ltd., London. Swire Pacific holds the Coca Cola franchise in Hong Kong through its affiliate Swire Bottlers Ltd., one of the largest bottlers in Asia. Shareholder owners of the three Utah properties are Mrs. Loraine Felton Ivers and her family. Salt Lake City. Management of the three companies would continue under Stuart Felton, son of Mrs. Ivers. The three companies have a combined employment of 300." (Salt Lake Tribune, August 25, 1977)

Sold to Swire in 1978. From the Swire web site:
"In 1965 Swire purchased the Coca-Cola bottling franchise in Hong Kong. It has since become the exclusive Coca-Cola bottler in Taiwan and in seven provinces in Mainland China. In 1978, desiring to expand its soft drink business beyond Asia, Swire purchased the franchise rights for the Coca-Cola bottler in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over the ensuing years Swire continued to purchase other surrounding franchised bottlers and distributors."

In November 1994, Swire Pacific announced that it would move its facility from 875 South West Temple in Salt Lake City, south to a new site that was being developed in Draper. The new location's formal address is 12634 South 265 West, but the facility covers a total of 132 acres, between Interstate 15 and the former D&RGW tracks, just south of 12300 South. The new facility was under construction during 1997 and the move took place during 1998. The planned new building, at 640,000 square feet, was twice the size of the site on West Temple in Salt Lake City, but as of July 1996, the move was held up by UDOT's delayed plans to add an interchange at 12300 South for I-15. The original building was expanded in 2012 to double its original size.

###