Our Region, Birthplace of Soft Drinks?
Virginia’s Ninth District is home to an array of nationally iconic items.
Previously, one of my columns discussed the significance of the Crooked Road and the D-Day Memorial. These monuments demonstrate that our regions have profound roots in country music and service to the U.S. military.
What is lesser known to some is this District has deep ties to the soft drink industry.
The early days of mixing soft drinks are filled with cloak-and-dagger intrigue and accusations of stolen formulas.
One soda of notable prominence is Dr Pepper.
Texas claims credit for Dr Pepper’s incarnation. A young pharmacist, Charles Alderton, worked at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, TX and allegedly liked to experiment with different fruit syrups in his free time.
After multiple trials, Alderton offered his formula to the store owner, Wade B. Morrison.
Morrison didn’t always live in Waco. He originally worked in a pharmacy in Rural Retreat, Virginia for a “surgeon” named Charles Taylor Pepper.
A 1996 article from the Virginian-Pilot noted that Pepper happened to mix mountain herbs, roots and seltzer into a fizzy brew and allowed Morrison to mass produce his beverages.
A coincidence that Morrison, who worked with Pepper to sell a soft drink, moved to Waco and founded his own drug store, and in that very store, a soda named “Dr Pepper” is conceived?
Local lore, as I’ve heard it, is that Morrison took one of Dr. Pepper’s formulas to Texas with him along with Dr. Pepper’s daughter. That is not the official company line, but that is what local storytellers have said.
While the soda’s origins are disputed, Charles Pepper’s gravesite remains a Wythe County attraction to this day. I have made multiple stops by it during my travels.
One county over, in Smyth County, the town of Marion is also connected to the creation of a popular soda, Mountain Dew.
The Hartman brothers, Barney and Ally, opened Hartman Beverage Company in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Hartmans allegedly explored different recipes for a lemon-lime soda, until they created Mountain Dew.
The term “Mountain Dew” can be traced to Appalachian slang for mountain-brewed moonshine. The talented Stanley Brothers out of Dickenson County recorded the song “Mountain Dew.”
However, it is disputed who should get credit for the final recipe. At one time, the Hartman brothers joined forces with William “Billy” Jones, President and General Manager of Marion’s TIP Corporation. Ally Hartman became an investor in TIP at one point.
Some claim that Jones obtained the rights to Mountain Dew during this time!
Marion was one of three total sites in the country to begin marketing Mountain Dew, according to PepsiCo.
The Hartman brothers sold the beverage locally in Virginia and Tennessee until 1964, when PepsiCo purchased the brand and production rights. PepsiCo acquired TIP, making Jones a lot of money.
In fact, Steve Smith, CEO of Food City, has told me as a young man he saw a photocopy of the check when working for his father’s grocery stores.
One book by Dick Bridgforth documents the history of Mountain Dew and recognized Marion as having a hand in the beverage’s origins.
While the Hartman brothers receive credit for creating the soft drink, Marion town leaders have successfully pushed for a Virginia Historic Marker acknowledging Bill Jones and his contributions to the founding of Mountain Dew. The marker will read “The Birthplace of Modern Mountain Dew.”
A unique beverage that also has ties to Southwest Virginia and Tennessee is one of my personal favorites.
Dr. Enuf, a vitamin-enriched concoction that tastes like a soda but produces the boost of an energy drink, was first bottled in 1949 by Tri-City Beverage Corporation in Johnson City, Tennessee. Because of Tri-City Beverage Corporation, also bottling Mountain Dew, Johnson City was one of the other early marketing sites for “the Dew.”
Unlike Hartman Beverage Company, Tri-City Beverage Corporation retains the rights to Dr. Enuf to this day.
While I typically drink the regular green version, they also have an herbal red version and diet versions.
Also, Pepsi Bottling Company’s plant in Wytheville bottles the popular sports-themed beverage, Gatorade.
There are other soft drinks with ties, but these are currently the most significant.
The rich history of the Ninth District’s contributions to the soft drink industry is well documented. And no one can argue that Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew have nationally become a part of America’s culture.
So in these hot days of August, have a chilled soft drink of your choice and remember you live in “America’s Soft Drink Capital.”
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
