Season residents may recall there was a time that Susanville had its very own Coca Cola Plant. The original bottling works was established around 1914 by H.W. “Pop” Wharton. It was located at 906 South Alley between South Weatherlow and Union Streets. The building, painted a chocolate brown, is still there and converted into apartments.

In 1923, Howard L. McMurphy took over the complete operation. It was an interesting and lucrative time to be in soda business  with Prohibition. It saw not only the local production of Coca Cola, but a local line of the Mt. Lassen brand of sodas.

Sometime in the late 1920s a new plant was constructed at Main and S. Sacramento Streets. For many the star attraction was the large picture window on Main Street, where people on the street could watch the assembly line of the sodas being bottled.

In 1967, Phyllis McMurphy Beard dissolved the Susanville Coca Cola Plant and the local production of sodas ceased.

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