New River Bottling Co.

1905—1915

New River Bottling Company was founded in 1905 with stakeholders Charles Middleburg, W.A. Davidson, B.E. Bare, and B.K. Hess (“New Bottling,” 1905), with Middleburg serving as manager. B.E. Bare served as the president. Born in 1871 in Monroe County, he served many other roles in his communities, including county assessor of Fayette County, director of the Bank of Fayette, president of the Fayetteville Building & Loan Association, and secretary-treasurer of the Meadow River Colliery Company (“County Assessor,” 1911).

New River Bottling Co.’s disitribution was limited to the Kanawha and New River coalfields (“New Bottling,” 1905). By 1915, it was delinquent on its corporate taxes (“Corporations Delinquent,” 1915), likely marking the official end of the company, though it disappears from Dun & Bradstreet listings after 1913.