Vicksburg-Famous for #2 Coca-Cola, Around Town

Besides being the site of the end of The Civil War, Vicksburg is also famous because Joseph Biedenharn first bottled Coca-Cola here in 1894.

Joseph Biedenharn began bottling Coca-Cola at his Biedenharn Candy Company in Vicksburg eight years after its 1886 invention in Atlanta, Georgia.

So we decided to visit the first Coca-Cola bottling plant located in Downtown Vicksburg on the cobble-stoned Washington Street.

Here is a representation of the town of Vicksburg when Coca-Cola was first bottled.

This was the original set-up required to provide carbonation to the bottled-beverage. It consisted of a carbonator and a gas generator.

The Museum exhibited a vast array of Coca-Cola memorabilia ranging from old bottle designs to advertising posters to bottling equipment.

Tarzan and Jane (Johnny Weismuller & Maureen O'Sullivan) appeared on this 1934 Coca-Cola tray.

The museum even had an old-fashioned toilet with elevated tank and pull chain to flush.

After using the facilities, Marlon attempted to make a phone call the old-fashioned way.

This is an advertisement from the 1940's as a wife anticipated the return of her GI husband from war.

Just a few blocks away, you can find the Vicksburg levee.

This levee wall details the various flood levels of the Mississippi throughout the years.

We walked through a Riverfront Art Park just across the street from the levee.

Here we are standing on the banks of The Mighty Mississippi River.

As we were leaving Vicksburg and the State of Mississippi, we stopped by the Mississippi Visitor's Center (kind of backward, we know).

Here Doug stands viewing the bridge which spans the Mississippi River and connects Mississippi to Louisiana.

For more pictures of the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum and Vicksburg, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/vicksburg-mississip/ .

To be continued...