Raleigh, Then and Now: Nehi Bottling Company
Top: 1944, Bottom: 2012
Top image courtesy State Archives of North Carolina
Nestled beside the Wilmont Apartments on Hillsborough Street sits one of Raleigh’s earliest examples of modernist architecture. Â Built in 1937, the building first functioned as the Nehi Bottling Company. Designed by acclaimed Raleigh architect William Henley Deitrick, it is a great example of the International style.
This early style of modernist architecture suggests volume rather than mass, and function rather than form. Â The only ornamentation original to the building are the black glass tiles flanking the main entrance, some of which have fallen off in recent years.
Another example of this style, this time residential, can be found nearby on Turner St.
The Nehi Bottling Company continued to operate in this building until 1965, at which point it was occupied by the Royal Crown Bottling Company, which continued to operate there until 1970.
This Raleigh architectural treasure was designated a Raleigh historic landmark in 2010. Today it sits vacant, in dire need of restoration.
Here we see the Nehi delivery truck crew proudly posing by their vehicles in front of the plant in 1940. (State Archives of North Carolina photo)
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS feed
Subscribe to posts by Email
Sign up for the Newsletter
01/24/2013
The Nehi building was a cool design in its day. What a shame it needs so much help now. Thanks for posting this.
The house on Turner Street looks like it would also be a star in a different location, http://tinyurl.com/20Turner
01/24/2013
Wonder if the lettering across the top could be put back in place. Really adds something.
01/24/2013
I would love to buy this building and restore it to have a brewery on the bottom floor and maybe turn the 2nd floor into a bar. I’ll just add it to the list of things I’d do if I had money to spare. Sigh.
01/24/2013
I agree put the royal crown mural back it would be striking!
01/24/2013
“1942 – The Josephine Edwards House, 20 Turner, Raleigh. Designed by her son, NCSU Architectural Engineering graduate Richard Edwards. After she died, the heirs eventually transferred the house to grandson Francis C. Edwards, the owner as of 2012.”
from: http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/raleigh.htm
01/31/2013
I used to live at the Wilmont when I was growing up and I always wondered what that building was for originally. It would be great to see it restored.
02/14/2013
Nice. Love the then and now posts. I got me a couple pictures of this building from a couple years ago. http://www.flickr.com/photos/benspiker/5210395438/in/set-72157625476086822/
03/03/2013
I have to think the renaissance that this section of Hillsborough is undergoing can only be good for this building. Once the Hillsborough-facing parts of the Valentine project get underway, and given the work already done like the renovation of the Wilmont, it’s just a matter of time. (Plus the Raleigh Historic Landmark designation will protect it from demolition. Right…?)
09/20/2013
My father’s family had a bottling business, Gary Bottling Co., pre-WWII. Their brand name was Tip, a grape drink. I grew up in Durham, but my father would take me with him for visits to his mother, then living near the Raleigh fair grounds. If my memory serves me, he pointed out this building to me as a place that Tip was bottled. Could it be that they leased some space or use of the equipment for their business?
11/20/2013
‘Not sure if everyone heard that the building was saved and is being renovated.
“James A. Goodnight bought the building in June for $590,000 and plans extensive renovations to get it ready for a tenant’s finishing touches sometime in early 2014. Goodnight hopes to work with surviving elements of the old bottling company, including the drive-thru where trucks pulled into the front of the building to load up on soda.”
Kudos to Ian F.G. Dunn and Goodnight Raleigh for being the catalysts in this change:
“…Goodnight read about the building and saw old photos of the bottling plant on the website Goodnight Raleigh. The piece about the building ended with these words: ‘Today it sits vacant, in dire need of restoration.’â€
From http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/20/3209958/raleighs-landmark-nehi-bottling.html
02/10/2014
While cleaning out a basement in Durham, my brother & I came across an old hand-trolley or dolly. The metal is heavy and the design of the lines is simple. We think it could have been used on one of the bottle delivery trucks or at the plant. It certainly looks old enough. I can picture crates of bottles stacked up on the dolly, being moved from the end-line to the trucks. Would you have any interest in having this old piece of equipment which may have been used @ the Nehi building? If the right supports were found, it could be hung as a dramatic piece of wall art, appropriate for the building. Happy to make it a donation to a good cause.–db