DALLAS — While the Coke vs. Dr Pepper vs. Pepsi debate is fun and timeless, one soda will always hold a special place in Dallas history.
Drivers who zoom past the intersection of Greenville and Mockingbird might barely notice a time and temperature sign sitting on the northwest corner that reads “Dr Pepper Station” along with the vintage logo of the soft drink.
The sign is all that remains of the Dr Pepper National headquarters that once stood on that very corner from when it was built in 1948 to when it was demolished in 1997.
WFAA stories from the 1970s archived in the SMU Jones Film Library show the headquarters hosting field trips for school students and how the uniquely Texas brand took on American icon Coca-Cola in various different soda wars through the years.
One such story captured the “panic buying” of diet sodas after the Food and Drug Administration proposed a ban on saccharin. Dr Pepper threatened legal action to stop the ban, which was eventually nixed by Congress.
Dr Pepper would eventually merge with Seven-Up, and the two brands were later acquired by Cadbury Schweppes in the 1990s. The company relocated its headquarters to Plano, leaving behind its Dallas facility, except for that iconic sign, which still stands today.