{"nrhp_refnum":"85003326","name":"Pearson, John, Soda Works","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"594 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Placerville","county":"El Dorado County","state":"CA","lat":38.72869295900006,"lon":-120.79681471499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick and stone commercial building at 594 Main Street, Placerville, California. The stone ground floor was built in 1859 by John Pearson and the upper story was added in 1897.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of several early soda works in Placerville and a reminder of the city's 19th-century economic activity. It is tied to the Pearson family, local merchants who used it for ice storage, soda production and liquor sales. It is also described as a notable local example of its construction type and one of the city's oldest commercial buildings without major alterations.","narrative":"At the upper end of Placerville's Main Street, a two-story building of stone and brick recalls the town's soda and ice trade. John McFarland Pearson, a Scottish-born ice merchant, bought the site in 1859 and built a single-story stone building, moving his ice depot into it. A tunnel running about 150 feet into the hillside provided natural refrigeration for ice and butter. The business grew into the Pearson Soda Works, which also sold wines, liquors, ales and beers. After Pearson died in 1891, his sons added a brick-and-stone second story in 1897 for a bottling room, along with a water-powered elevator. The Pearsons sold the machinery and stock in 1904 but kept the building until 1971. A 1974 renovation rebuilt the ground floor to resemble its 1859 look and restored the elevator. The building now operates as a restaurant. It was listed for its local importance to commerce and industry and as one of the city's oldest commercial buildings.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"J. Pearson","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a restaurant; renovated in 1974 with the ground floor rebuilt and the hydraulic elevator restored.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.10615-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/85003326.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003326/8593f0d333-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003326/8593f0d333-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bobak Ha'Eri","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0724-Placerville-JPSodaWorks.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bobak Ha'Eri</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0724-Placerville-JPSodaWorks.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858619","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pearson_Soda_Works","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701378"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/el-dorado-county/pearson-john-soda-works-85003326/"}