Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company

Behind every bottler stood a franchise system. Dr Pepper was first made in Waco in 1885, but the Handbook says the Dr Pepper Company, incorporated in Dallas on July 6, 1923, sold syrups and concentrates to independent licensed bottlers. They added sweetener and carbonated water, packaged the drink and sold it in their own markets. The company's slogan, "Drink a Bite to Eat at 10, 2 and 4," dates from 1926. A 1963 federal court ruling that Dr Pepper was not a cola let bottlers carry it alongside Pepsi-Cola or Coca-Cola.

What the plaque says

Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company Sam Houston Prim (1863-1946) arrived in Dublin in 1891 with $680 worth of bottling equiment, purchasing property at the southeast corner of Patrick and Elm streets to house his bottling works. Prim bottled Dr Pepper, along with other products, under an informal agreement until 1925, when he formally chose as a Dr Pepper distribution territory a 44-mile radius centered on Dublin -- an area that remains as the company's territory today. At the time of Prim's death, Dr Pepper executives noted that he had bottled the soft drink longer than any other individual. The company has remained in operation since that time, making it the oldest Dr Pepper bottler in the world. (2009)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dublin Bottling Works — steps away
  The Erath County plant that bottled Dr Pepper with cane sugar from 1891 until a 2012 settlement ended its Dr Pepper license, and that still makes its own sodas the same way.

More markers nearby

• Dublin National Bank — steps away
• Early Commercial Building — steps away
• Dublin Rodeo — steps away
• Hogan Blacksmith Shop — steps away