HISTORICAL AND INDUSTRIAL EDITION OF THE GASTON PROGRESS
Seven
Gastonia Coca-Cola Bottling Company Best Soft Drinks on Earth
CAPT. G. H. MARVIN
As a center for the sale of ccca-cola
and the manufacture of soft drinks,
Gastonia has long held a leading place
in this locality. It is admirably
located as a distributing point, and
the business is in a flourishing con
dition. One of the leading concerns
in the State is the Gastonia Coca-Cola
Bottling Company, whose establish
ment is located on Main avenue, and
the produce of the plant finds a ready
sale not only in this city, but through
out this entire section, where their
superiority has long been recognized
by all lovers of the good things of
life. The plant covering 1,000 square
feet of floor space. The plant is
a model of cleanliness and sanita
tion, the goods bottled are the very
best procurable, and those using the
product of the establishment may
rest assured that they are getting the
very best that can be had. The busi
ness is in a iiourishing condition and
each year finds it better than the last.
Besides being the sole bottlers here
of the now world famous coca-cola.
they also manufacture Carolina
Beauty Ginger Ale, and a score of
other soft drinks and soda waters
wh’ch are sold throughout Gaston
county and part of South Carolina. The
business was incorporated with a
capital stock of $10,000 and from its
very start a splendid business has
been done. The president of the com
pany is Luther Snyder, president of
the Coca-cola Bottling Works at Char
lotte, and a man of fine business
ability. The secretary and treasurer j
is G. H. Marvin, one of the best known
business men of this section and one
of wide experience and travel, for he
has been in twenty-six states of the
Union and many parts of the Domin
ion of Canada. For severl years he
was on the road for the Coca-cola com
pany and employed by them in At
lanta. He is a native of New York
State, having been born in the
f
HEADQUARTERS COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY
Adirondack mountains near the Ca
nadian border. He is a man of edu
cation and is an excellent verse
writer, having contributed to many
of the leading journals and magazines,
While with the company, and even
now, he is commonly known as the
Ccca-cola poet. In fraternal circles
he is both prominent and popular, be-
'ng a 32 degree Mason, a Knights
Templar and a Shriner, He is also
a member of the Order of the Eastern
Star, Golden Cross, Knights of the
Mystic Chain, .Junior Order United
American Mechanics, Red Men, Odd
Fellows, the D. 0. K. K., and an officer
of the Knights of Pythias, and presi
dent of the Patriotic Order of the
Sons of America. Captain Marvin was
one of the first U. S. government offi
cers in the federal prison in Atlanta,
Ga., and is a man of many parts. Capt.
Marvin is ably assisted by his son
George E., a bright young man and a
chip off the old block, He is a mem
ber of the Junior Order American
Mechanics, and by Mr. W. L. Coon, an
expert in this line. All the gentlemen
connected with the Gastonia Coca-cola
Bottling Co. are public spirited and
progressive citizens, who are ever
ready and willing to lend a helping
hand to any cause that is for the wel
fare of old Gastonia.
GEO. E. MARVIN
Coca-Cola--
Delicious
Refreshing
Gastonia Ice & Coal Company
c
PLANT OF THE GASTONIA ICE & COAL COMPANY
I
i
The Purest Ice
The Best Coal
Artificial ice was long ago pro
nounced by scientific men the purest
made, and have killed the old
tradition, at one time so generally be
lieved, that freezing eradicated all
impurities from the water, a myth
and nothing more. Ice frozen from
contaminated water is, they say, just
as impure as the water from which it
is made, whetner it is frozen naturally
or arUflcially, and maintain that the
is to make it from distilled and^filter-
ed water. This being so the people
of this city and vicinity need have
no fear, for the ])lant of the Gastonia
Ice and Coal Company is one of the
most up-to-date in the country. City
water is in itself pure, but to make
"assurance doubly sure,” the water is,
before being converted into ice made
by this company, boiled, filtered and
double distilled. After going through
this process it seems hardly reasonable
ihat there could be any possible
danger'of contaminations, and the
product of the concern must be 100
per cent. pure. The plant of the com
pany at North Broad street and the
railroad tracks, consists of a Wolf-
Lind ice making machine with a capac
ity of 12 1-2 tons, and during the sum-
n-er is operated to its greatest capac-
•:5t •
has an excellently organized city de
livery extending to the suburbs, and
also ships considerable of its product
to neighboring towns. It is also an
extensive dealer in coal and wood,
handling only the best grades. The
Gastonia Ice & Coal Company took
over in 1908 the plant formerly operat
ed at Avon Mills, which had, up to that
time supplied the city with ice. This
plant, however, w^as only equipped
with a machine capable of making
from 7 to 8 tons, and the demand was
greater than the supply. The new
company put in a modern equipment
of the best type and has been most
successful. The officers are: Presi
dent, Frost Torrance; vice-president,
J Flem Johnson; and secretary and
tieasurer, R. Hope Bryson. Mr. Tor
rance is also president of the Tor-
. jm-re Dr^.^,Cn^a^ and., secretary
n^Fa!n^ver
increasing trade. Although born in
Charlotte he was raised here and
worked as a butcher for Mr
^Davis 13 years. He started
ivir.
in who
^ C., a num
ber of years ago, and has been with
the company since it was organized.
came h^
GEORGE E. HAITHCOCK.
Real Estate—Glenn Building.
One of the best assets any progres
sive city can possibly have is a wide
awake real estate man who has made
a study of his business and of the land
values in the locality in which he
operates. To a man who is consider
ing an investment and is not familiar
■MUh the city, and also to the man who
want's to sell but does not know where
ago to the Piedmont Traction Com
pany, which sale embraced the private
residences and adjoining rental prop
erties owned by nine or ten different
parties but situated all in a body. This
property faces on Main and Broad
streets and Franklin avenue, and was
sold in a single transaction to the
above named company for terminal
station, etc., the purchase price being
approximately $70,000. Other sales
made during the last several months
were the three story brick mercantile
€
has scored a decided success to the
gratification of his many Mends. He
■S a public spirited and progressive citi
zen who is always ready and willing to
lend a helping hand to any cause that
IS for the welfare and advancement of
Gastonia, his home and the little city
m which he has cast his fortune.
J. FLEM JOHNSON & COMPANY.
Hay, Grain, Flour, Feed Stuffs and
Provisions, Fruits and Produce.
Located as it is in the center of a
rich agricultural country, Gastonia is
naturally the center of a large trade
in hay, grain, flour, feed stuffs, provis
ions, fruits and produce, and this busi
ness has fully kept pace with the
phenominal growth of the city during
the past two decades. One of the most
extensive wholesale dealers in these
prcducts is the firm of J. Flem .''oliiison
& Company, whose establishment is
located at 222 west Main avenue. The
trade of this concern extends through
out the section for many miles, a
radius which is constantly being ex
tended through the energy and enter
prise of the progressive geiiUemen
v/ho comprise the firm. Fronting 50
feet on the principal thoroughfare of
the city the ware rooms of the firm ex
tend back to the tracks of the South
ern railroad, providing excellent facil
ities for receiving and shipping good.s,
and obviating the necessity of fre
quent and expensive handling. The
business was founded more than l.j
years ago by J. Flem Johnson, and was
a success from the very beginning.
Mr. Johnson is a native of Gaston
county, has for many years been
representative here of the Standard
Oil Company and is vice-president of
the Gastonia Ice & Coal Company. On
January first of the present year, Mr.
R. Hope Brison, who had been asso
ciated with Mr. Johnson for seven or
eight years, became owner of the con-
Y-fh. Mr. Brison is a native of
Clover, S. C., and is a type of the en
terprising young business man who is
doing so much toward pushing Gas
tonia to the front rank of North Caro
lina cities where she rightfully be-
H ngs. He is secretary and treasurer
M the Gastonia Ice & Coal Company,
a position he has held since its incor
poration. Both partners are pubic
spirited and progressive citizens who
are always ready and willing to lend
a helping hand to any cause that is for
the welfare of Gastonia, their home.
THE SHUFORD COMPANY., Inc.
Wholesale Grocers.
As a center of the wholesale grocery
trade, Gastonia has few equals in the
state, so far as location is concerned,
and at the present rate of progress,
she well soon take her place in the
front rank among the cities in the
Carolinas doing a wholesale business
Surrounded as she is by a large num
ber of small towns her position is
with everything he needs and start
him in business. It handles only the
goods of the best and most reliable
manufacturers, canners and packers
makers of cigars, tobacco, cigarettes’
cakes, crackers and confections, im
posed and domestic, plain and fancy
groceries and provisions. Mr. J. r
Shufcrd, the president, and his
brother. Mr. J. M. Shuford, the secre
tary and treasurer, have both had
years of experience in the retail
grocery trade before entering the
OFFICE OF GEO. E. HAITHCOCK
to find a purchaser, his services are
essential and it might be said indis
pensable. The real estate man brings
buyer and seller together for the
benefit of both. Located here in Gas
tonia Mr. George E. Haithcock, whose
office is on the second floor of Glenn
building, 113 Main avenue. Mr.
Haithcock gives his entire time to sell
ing real estate, paying special atten
tion to business and residential prop
erties in Gastonia and farms nearby.
Since he has been in business here he
bas put through a number of big
transfers. Among recent transactions
■’^as the sale made by him some months
building of the J. Flem Johnson Com
pany on Main street, the Nolen place,
also in the mercantile district on Main
street, and numerous other “close in”
and suburban properties. Those who
are considering the buying or selling
of real estate should certainly heed the
slogan “Talk with Haithcock,” which
so many have already done to their
profit. Mr. Haithcock is a native of
Hickory, North Carolina, where he was
engaged in the real estate business
before coming here. He has been a
resident of Gastonia for the past five
years, having given his entire time to
real estate alone, in which business he
STORE OP THE SHUFORD COMPANY
(W I
OFFICE OF I. FLEM JOHNSON & COMPANY
admirable and her wholesale mer
chants successfully compete for this
trade with much larger cities. One of
the leading firms engaged in the
wholesale trade is the Shuford Com
pany, incorporated, whose offices and
warerooms are located at 216 west
Main street. Fronting 30 feet on the
principal thoroughfare, the building
extends back a distance of 100 feet to
the tracks of the Southern railroad,
giving unsurpassed facilities for both
shipping and receiving goods in car
load lots. The company handles
everything usually kept by a high
grade wholesale grocery store and is
in a position to fully equip the retailer
wholesale business, and are thoroughly
familiar with the wants and needs of
these in this section. They are origin
ally from Cleveland county, but have
lived in Gaston for years. Mr. J R
Shuford was formerly the buyer for
the Spencer Mountain Mills, and came
to Gastonia to make his home when
the Shuford Company succeeded the
J A. Glenn Company about five years
ago. Mr. J. M. Shuford formerly was
in the retail grocery business at
Dallas, the old county seat, and at one
time held the office of county treas
urer. Mr. C. I. Loftin, the vice-presi
dent, is of the firm of Loftin & Com-
pany, job printers.