John Pearson Soda Works facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Pearson, John, Soda Works
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 John Pearson Soda Works
Location in California
John Pearson Soda Works
Location in the United States
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| Location | 594 Main St., Placerville, California |
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| Built | 1859 |
| Architect | Pearson, J. |
| Architectural style | Rustic vernacular Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 85003326 |
| Added to NRHP | December 12, 1985 |
The John Pearson Soda Works, also called the Placerville Soda Works, is a historic brick building in Placerville, California. It's located in El Dorado County, California, which is part of the famous Gold Country region. This building is a great example of old-fashioned Victorian architecture. Because of its history, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1985. From 2003 to 2018, the building was home to a popular coffee shop and music venue called the Cozmic Café.
Contents
Building History: From Ice to Soda Pop
Early Days: An Ice House in the Gold Country
The John Pearson Soda Works building was not built all at once. The original building on this spot was destroyed in a big fire that swept through Placerville in the 1850s. After the fire, a man named John McFarland Pearson, who was from Scotland, built the first part of the building in 1859.
He designed it to be an ice house. This means it was a place to store large blocks of ice. John Pearson was smart about where he built it. He chose a spot in front of an old, unused mine shaft. This allowed him to use the underground tunnels and rooms to keep the ice cool. The walls of this first section were also made very thick, about 22 inches (0.56 meters), to help keep the ice from melting.
Expanding into Soda and Bottling
Later, John Pearson decided to expand his business. He started making and selling soda water. His sons continued the family business. In 1897, they added the second story made of brick. This new upper floor was used for the bottling operation.
To make it easier to move products between floors, they even added a special elevator that worked using water power. Besides ice and soda, the store also sold other everyday items like eggs and beer.
New Owners and New Businesses
Over the years, the soda business changed hands a few times. The Pearson sons sold the business in 1904 to the Scherrer Bros. Then, in 1934, Robert Hook bought it. He turned it into a franchise for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
The building continued to house different businesses. In 1972, the Pearson family sold the building to Roger John Douvres, who collected antiques. Mr. Douvres spent four years carefully restoring the building. He turned the lower part into an old-fashioned soda fountain, where people could enjoy fizzy drinks. The upper floor became a fancy dining hall, decorated in a style from the early 1900s.
Mr. Douvres' daughter helped get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which recognized its importance. Since then, the building has been home to many different kinds of businesses. It has been a theater, an antique shop, a bookstore, a music store, and even the Placerville Coffee House before it became The Cozmic Café in 2003.
Another historic soda works building nearby, called the Fountain-Tallman Soda Works, is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
See also
