Dr Pepper Museum

The Dr Pepper Museum was founded in 1988 to educate and entertain the general public through the collection, preservation, interpretation, and exhibition of objects relevant to the history of the soft drink industry, and through that example, the free enterprise economic system. The Dr Pepper Museum & Free Enterprise Institute is a private, non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors elected by its membership. The Museum and  Free Enterprise Institute opened to the public in May 1991 and has hosted over 1,200,000 visitors. The Museum is housed in the 1906 Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building located in downtown Waco.  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 Dr Pepper Snapple Group and its affiliated bottlers but is not owned or operated by them. Located at the corner of Fifth Street and Mary Avenue in 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 as "blighted" by the City.  The Waco Chamber of Commerce and the City of Waco hoped 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 in Dallas.