KINGSPORT, TENN BOTTLING COMPANIES

Kingsport, TN, aka the Model City, apparently started it's life around 1905. If this is the case then they had a relationship with bottling almost since the beginning of the city. In a 1905 copy of the Bristol Harold Courier I found an article that was reporting on the building of a new large bottling plant in Kingsport, TN. I still haven't figured out exactly which plant they are referring to; however, I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with the Tenn-Cola Bottling Company which used an amber bottle similar to the bottles being used by Coca Cola and some of its imitators at the time.

It turns out that Kingsport wound up having a bottling history that would rival some of the other larger towns in the area, the only problem being that is just wasn't meant to last. With the Coca Cola bottling plant closing in the late 1960's or early 1970's, Kingsport would no longer have any bottling companies located there. That being said while there were bottling companies in Kingsport it produced an interesting array of different brands and bottles.

Tenn-Cola Bottling Company

Kingsport Chero-Cola / Royal Crown Bottling Company

Julep Bottling Company 1931-1940

Nesbitt-Fleenor Bottling Company 1940-1943

Holston Bottling Company 1941-1942

Cheer-Up Dough Boy / Nesbitts Bottling Company and Beverages Inc. 1942-1948

Kingsport Bottling Company 1943-1944

Seven-Up Bottling Company 1945-1948

Nesbitts Bottling Company 1948-1957

Coca-Cola Bottling Company