Coca-Cola Marks 130 Years

It's an anniversary in Atlanta and an important one.

Coca-Cola was first served on this date 130 years ago.

The soft drink was introduced by its inventor, Asa Candler, at the content of Jacobs Pharmacy, which was located on what it now Marietta Street.

"It's the question we get all the time at The World of Coca-Cola," says Coke historian Ted Ryan.  "Where was Coke first served?  Where was Jacobs Pharmacy?"

To mark the event the company is looking back and looking ahead.

On the site of Jacobs, now the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Coca-Cola will transform the building, if only for the day.

"We're putting up a three story, thirty foot scrim,” Ryan says.  "It's a picture of Jacobs Pharmacy that we're going to put on the outside of the Andrew Young building."

People driving on Marietta Street will be seeing what the building, which is long gone, would look like today.

In addition, Coke will erect a permanent plaque that will mark exactly where the drink was first served.

"This marker is going to be great for me," says Ryan. "I'm going to be able to point people to the marker and tell them that's where Coke was first served."

The anniversary ceremony begins at 10.  At 11, in Woodruff Park, the company will be offering free samples to the public as they celebrate 130 years of The Real Thing.