New Bern, North Carolina - Birthplace of Pepsi
- Address:
- 256 Middle Street, New Bern, NC [Show Map]
- Directions:
- US 17 to downtown, where US 17/Broad St. turns south into US 17/Front St. Two blocks west and one block south of this, at the corner of Pollack and Middle Sts.
- Phone:
- 252-636-5898
Vacation and road trip planning caution: Visitor tips may not be verified. Call attractions for most current hours and admission. Send Updates.
Across the steet from Bradham's old pharmacy is a competing Pepsi Museum (also closed on Sundays). Although Coke is still King at least the peoples of New Bern, NC are finally getting around to acknowledging that their sleepy little town is the birthplace of Pepsi.
Two other interesting things to note... when I trying to get a picture of Bradham's old pharmacy I backed into a cannon sunk into a concete sidewalk! The cannon was taken from a British ship back during the war for US independance and, for some reason, buried open end down in the sidewalk. A weathered plaque tells the story.
The second thing of interest is the grave of Caleb D. Bradham himself -- located in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern. It seems that neither the inventor of Coke or Pepsi has a concrete Coke or Pepsi bottle headstone. Both Dr. John Pemberton and Caleb D. Bradham's graves simply mention that they were the inventors of Coke and Pepsi but no big concrete celebration of that fact. [Greg Brown, 03/04/2001]
Nearby Offbeat Places
- Stuffed Head of Firehorse Fred, New Bern, NC - < 1 mi.
- Self-Kicking Machine, Croatan, NC - 10 mi.
- Tom Haywood's Self-Kicking Machine, New Bern, NC - 10 mi.
- In the region: Lester Gay's Whirligigs, Fountain, NC - 52 mi.
