{"nrhp_refnum":"05001594","name":"Coca-Cola Bottling Plant-Athens","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"297 Prince Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Athens","county":"Clarke County","state":"GA","lat":33.95988100300008,"lon":-83.38312279299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-02-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of brick bottling plant, warehouse and garage buildings at 297 Prince Avenue in Athens, Georgia, built between about 1903 and 1955. The centerpiece is a two-story Colonial Revival bottling plant designed in 1928 by Athens architect John William Barnett.","why_significant":"The complex is significant under Criterion C for architecture because the plant and warehouses represent Coca-Cola bottling facilities from before standardized building plans were adopted. It is significant under Criterion A in commerce and industry as an important industrial enterprise in downtown Athens and an efficient model of an early 20th-century Coca-Cola bottling and distribution franchise.","narrative":"This block on Prince Avenue in Athens, Georgia, holds a Coca-Cola bottling complex that grew from 1928 to 1955. Walter Sams established the plant in 1928, with a two-story Colonial Revival bottling building designed by local architect and engineer John William Barnett. Large plate glass windows let the public watch bottles being filled. Over the following decades the company added brick warehouses and garages along Meigs, Newton and Finley streets, eventually occupying the whole block. By 1955 it produced 2,000 cases a day and employed thirty men. Bottling continued until the late 1990s. The complex was listed because it represents Coca-Cola bottling plants built before standardized designs were required, and because it shows how a local franchise supported an important industry downtown. In 2003 the buildings were rehabilitated into shops, offices and loft apartments, and a new apartment building was added at the corner of Prince Avenue and Finley Street.","period_of_significance":"1928-1955","architect_builder":"Barnett, J. W. (architect); Ferqueron, W. W. (contractor)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Rehabilitated in 2003 for retail and office space and loft apartments; two later steel warehouses were removed and a new three-story apartment building was added.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.429486-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/05001594.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001594/dced9454d0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001594/dced9454d0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Gwringle","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coca-Cola_Bottling_Plant,_photographer_facing_NE_from_N._Finley_St..JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Gwringle</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coca-Cola_Bottling_Plant,_photographer_facing_NE_from_N._Finley_St..JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207446","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134286239"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/clarke-county/coca-cola-bottling-plant-athens-05001594/"}