Did you know Park City had its own soda pop for almost 70 years?
This is Chris Waddell with your weekly Park City History Bit.
The McPolin’s Park City Bottling Works bottled and distributed soda from 1898 to 1965. Located on the corner of 13th and Park Avenue, many old time Parkites still remember the soda concocted within its walls.
Dan McPolin moved to Park City from Ireland to mine for silver. Once here, however, he bought the pre-existing Bottling Works in 1898 while also running the McPolin Farm. An industrious man, McPolin not only created and distributed a variety of soda water, he also became the dealer for local beer and wine manufacturers, such as Becker’s Best and American Beauty Beer.
The Dan McPolin Saloon opened up inside the Bottling Works building in 1914 and lasted until Prohibition. When Dan died in 1922, his son Ed took over the Bottling Works, and with the help of his brother-in-law Bob Reese, made the “Mc’s Drinks” a must-have commodity for Parkites and out of town visitors.
With flavors like grape, black cherry, orange, strawberry, root beer, cream, lime and lemon, many swore that the Park City-made sodas were the best on the market. You can’t buy the soda anymore, but many of these classic bottles and labels are on display at the Park City Museum.
This Park City History Bit is brought to you by the Park City Museum, and their newest exhibit, “Miners to Moguls: 50 Years of Park City Skiing”, and is sponsored by JulieHopkins of Keller Williams Real Estate.
