Page Contents for Villa Rica, Georgia

Statistics & Facts

Location

Government

Historical Events

Libraries.

Schools.

---

Statistics & Facts

The Georgia state capital is Atlanta.
The population of Villa Rica is approximately 6,542 (1990), 13956 (2010).
The approximate number of families is 2,503 (1990), 5067 (2010).
The amount of land area in Villa Rica is 50.034 sq. kilometers.
The amount of surface water is 0.798 sq kilometers.
The distance from Villa Rica to Washington DC is 583 miles.
The distance to the Georgia state capital is 30 miles. (as the crow flies)
Villa Rica is positioned 33.73 degrees north of the equator and 84.92 degrees west of the prime meridian.

Location

in the Atlanta, GA area
Return to Index

---

Villa Rica City Government

City of Villa Rica

Villa Rica City Hall
571 W Bankhead Hwy.
Villa Rica, GA 30180
Phone: 770-785-1002
Fax: 770-459-7000

Villa Rica Historical Events

1903 - 1923
Villa Rica Coca-Cola Bottling Company
The Villa Rica Coca-Cola Bottling Company operated under the name Villa Rica Electric Light and Power Company. It had a twenty-year contract and operated from 1903 to 1923, when its territory was divided between the Carrolton and Rome Bottling companies. The original territory was Villa Rica, Douglasville, Winston and Tallapoosa, Georgia and Fruithurst and Muscadine, Alabama. (The Carrolton Coca-Cola plant served Bremen.) The delivery of "coke" to Tallapoosa and the Alabama towns was accompanied by rail shipment to Tallapoosa, where it was stored until route men disbursed it with a wagon and four mules. These deliveries often required a week or more.

The bottling operation in Villa Rica was very small, with an average of 50 to 100 cases being produced per week. A foot-operated pedal accomplished the crowning operation. Later, a semi-automatic operation was installed. The machine dispensed the syrup; the carbonated water was put in by hand, and the crowning was done automatically.

In addition to bottling, the company also in earlier years operated a 500-volt D.C. generator, which was the only electric power the city had. Several of the older homes in Villa Rica were wired for direct current. The streetlights were also D.C. The company also had an ice manufacturing plant, with the ice being delivered by mule and wagon, and later by truck.

W. B. Powell, Sr. was manager of the whole Villa Rica Light and Power Company with its various operational interests. Mr. Powell's son, W. B., Jr., said that when he was in high school, he and other high school boys worked in the bottling plant after school. During the winter, when sales were down, they operated from 3 p.m. until dark. When sales were up during the summer, they worked full-time. An interesting aside to this Coca-Cola Bottling history is the fact that the same company bottled Orange Crush, Strawberry Soda, Blossom Soda, Lemon and Lime Soda and Nu-Grape.

The brief history of the Villa Rica Coca-Cola operation comes from "The History of Villa Rica (City of Gold)", researched and written by Mary Talley Anderson of Villa Rica.

Submitted by Perry Bailey

Villa Rica Libraries

Villa Rica Public Library
70 Horace Luther Dr.
Villa Rica, GA 30180-1720
Phone: 770-459-7012

Villa Rica Schools

Villa Rica High School
600 Rocky Branch Rd
Villa Rica, GA 30180-2208
Phone: 770-459-5185