Bottles on the Border: The History and Bottles of the Soft Drink ...

Figure 5-4 – Houck & Dieter soda plant
(Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1883)
The original warehouse was on San Francisco
St., and the firm only sold beer and mineral water that
came from outside the city. Originally, all bottled
goods were brought by wagon from the end of track.
According to the Times, “the first car load of beer
was hauled by teams from the construction camp [at]
the ‘front.’” The 1883 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
shows a “SODA WATER FAC” in a small building
that was part of a complex on the corner of San
Francisco and Chihuahua. The complex was built on
the Spanish design with rooms around a central
courtyard. A saloon fronted on Chihuahua St. at the
corner with a dwelling extending from its side
southward on Chihuahua. The soda water factory
was on the southeast corner of the complex well off-set from the street (Figure 5-4).
Although Dieter was primarily interested in alcoholic beverages, he was farsighted
enough to realize that the coming of the railroads meant an opportunity to fill the needs of a
multitude of different thirsts. On April 1, 1881, less than two months prior to the arrival of the
railroad and only two months after their opening, the firm of Houck & Dieter launched its soda
bottling establishment in El Paso. According to the El Paso Times, the new establishment was “a
branch of A.L. Houck & Co., Santa Fe, New Mexico, the largest and most extensive wholesale
beer and soda house in the territory.” Dieter managed the El Paso branch that the Times crowed
was “the largest establishment west of Chicago, employing a large number of men” (EPT
1/1/1882 2:3).
Although the Times may have exaggerated, Houck & Dieter could rightfully claim a
thriving business. The firm bottled Soda Water, Sarsaparilla, Royal Ginger Ale, Seltzer Water,
Champagne Cider, and other carbonated beverages. Royal Ginger Ale enjoyed a particularly
good reputation in early El Paso. In addition, the firm distributed Appolinaris Water, Nassau
Selter, Manitou Mineral water products, and Stafford Mineral Springs Water. The El Paso
branch bottled five hundred dozen sodas a day, while their second plant, across the Rio Grande
in Paso del Norte (later called Juarez), Mexico, had a capacity for two hundred fifty bottles per
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