The Dr Pepper Museum opened to the public in May 1991 and has hosted over 2.5 million visitors. It is located in Waco, Texas and is the home of the Nation’s oldest major soft drink.
The Museum is housed in the 1906 Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building located in downtownWaco. The 100 year-old building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the “Home of Dr Pepper.” The Museum receives the support of Keurig Dr Pepper and its affiliated bottlers but is not owned or operated by them.
Located at the corner of5th StreetandMary Avenuein the turn of the century manufacturing district, the vacant bottling plant was in a sad state of repair in a neighborhood comprised mostly of abandoned warehouses that was officially declared “blighted” by the City. The Waco Chamber of Commerce and the City ofWacohoped that the Museum would be a catalyst for renewed energy and growth in the area, with the potential for restaurants and shops in the old warehouses down the street similar to the “West End” district inDallas.
Dr Pepper Company donated the historic building to the nonprofit organization in 1988. Renovation began in the summer of 1990. The building formally opened to the public onMay 11, 1991. At that time, only a small portion of the ground level was open to the public. During the next six years, the Museum embarked on three additional construction phases until the entire building was restored and opened in May 1997.
The Museum is home to the W. W. Clements Free Enterprise Institute. The Institute was created in 1997 for the purpose of educating school children as well as adults about the economic system that underlies American life. The program uses the soft drink industry as a model to teach students about developing, producing, and marketing products. An exhibit about the life of W.W. Clements and his philosophy of life, free enterprise, and business ethics opened in 2008 on the third floor of the Museum.
The Museum employs a staff of museum professionals and educators that work with the Board of Directors to fulfill the Museum’s mission.
The Museum has received contributions from Keurig Dr Pepper, the Coca Cola Company, Coca Cola Enterprises, Big Red Corporation, and numerous independent soft drink bottlers. We are recognized as the only nonprofit museum in the country dedicated to the entire soft drink industry. At the time it opened to the public, the Museum’s collection of artifacts totaled approximately 1,600. Today that collection includes over 300,000 artifacts.
In 2007, the Museum completed a new collections and archives storage center in the historic Kellum-Rotan Building, which we refer to as the East Wing Building. This has paved the way for the growth and consolidation of our collections and archives in one space. Our collection is now one of the largest and best in the world. In 2008, the façade of the Kellum–Rotan Building was completely restored. New administrative offices, education center, and board room were complete in 2011. In May of 2016 the East Wing Building opened to the public with new Gift Shop and Soda Fountain spaces and the Emerson Holt – Ted Getterman Exhibit Gallery.
In March of 2020 the Gift Shop moved to a renovated space in AMBC Building, increasing the space of both the Gift Shop and the Soda Fountain. In 2021 new experience spaces opened, increasing our ability to offer popular programs including Make-A-Soda and Taste-A-Soda. An update to the Soda Fountain featuring 1960s branding was completed in February of 2022.
Sit Down to Take a Stand, a recreated lunch counter that features audio from local sit-in participants, video from sit-ins in Houston, and photographs from across the South, opened in the Soda Fountain in November of 2022. The result is a moving, immersive experience accessible to all Museum visitors since admission is not required to visit the Soda Fountain. The addition of Sit Down to Take a Stand helps add context to the Soda Fountain and builds on the 1960s theme to reflect a time when all patrons were welcome while keeping the vintage feel visitors expect.
After remaining unchanged for almost 30 years, the “bottling room” space on the first floor of the AMBC Building, featuring the most popular exhibit in the Museum – the Artesian Well, was completely overhauled and opened to the public in February of 2023. The new exhibition,The People Who Made Dr Pepper/Las Personas Que Hicieron al Dr Pepper, focuses on the stories of the people who worked in the building in the context of the space as it was used for bottling. The exhibition features an accessible Artesian Well experience (no railings!), first person interpretations from key employees, bottling equipment, and interactive activities.
Dr Pepper Museum Past Presidents
- 2022 & 2023 – Anthony Betters, Sr.
- 2020& 2021 – Autumn Outlaw
- 2019– Blaine McCormick
- 2018– Jim Alexander
- 2017– Roger Camp
- 2016– Marcus Brooks
- 2015– Michael Brown
- 2014– Gaylan Beavers
- 2013– Angie Wallander
- 2012– Pat Cargill
- 2011– James R. Clifton
- 2010– Matthew Morrison
- 2009– Bob Cragen
- 2008– Holt Getterman
- 2007– Larry Dagley
- 2006– Claude Ervin
- 2005– Jim Clifton
- 2004– Gaylan Beavers
- 2003– Keith Dorsett
- 2002– Tom Moss
- 2001– Ruben Santos
- 2000– Jim Hardwick
- 1999– Gary Self
- 1998– Charles Brizius
- 1997– Frank Alexander
- 1996– Richard Scott
- 1995– Rex Davis
- 1994– Bob O’Beirne
- 1993– Bob O’Beirne
- 1992– Willard Still
- 1991– Joe Cross
- 1990– Joe Cross
- 1989– Wilton Lanning, Jr.
- 1988– Wilton Lanning, Jr.
