April 14th - Vicksburg - Biedenharn Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia

Where Coca-Cola was first bottled in 1894!!

The Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum features the history of one of the Nation's beloved beverages, along with equipment of the type that Joseph Biedenharn used to bottle Coke for the first time anywhere in the world in 1894.

Joseph Biedenharn was born on December 13, 1866, in Vicksburg, the eldest of eight sons and four daughters. His father, Herman, and Uncle Henry, founded a retail confectionary business known as Biedenharn and Brother. Joe eventually took over the operation of the candy business and it became the Biedenharn Candy Company.

In 1890, Joe and his father Herman built a two-story brick building at 1107 Washington Street which served as Joe's wholesale candy company on one side and his father's shoe store on the other.

The Biedenharns bottled Coca-Cola here and in other locations in downtown Vicksburg until 1938 when the new Coca-Cola plant was constructed at 2133 Washington Street.
The building was sold out of the family and used for a variety of commercial purposes. In 1979, the family repurchased the building and began a rehabilitation using historic photographs to restore the building’s major spaces and to install exhibits interpreting the Biedenharn’s Coca-Cola heritage. The family then donated the building to the Vicksburg foundation for Historic Preservation.

The soda fountain.
The restored Candy Shop and soda fountain. Ice Cream sectionCoke Memorabilia