American Tobacco Company Reidsville Plant (Closed)
Reidsville, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
You don't have to smoke to recognize the giant American Tobacco Company Reidsville Plant smokestack. The faded "Lucky Strike" lettering still towers over Reidsville, a reminder of the days when tobacco was the town's biggest industry. 04-08
The Plant (Closed)
Reidsville, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
The plant got its start in 1900 and eventually became one of American Tobacco's major manufacturing centers. The Art Deco powerhouse and smokestack remain some of the most recognizable pieces of the sprawling factory complex.
The cigarettes are long gone, but the old smokestack still catches your eye from a distance, making it one of Reidsville's best-known landmarks.
UPDATE: The former tobacco plant has been repurposed for new commercial uses, and the Lucky Strike smokestack still stands over the complex. 07-26
Reidsville Grocery Company (Demolished)
Reidsville, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Walking through downtown Reidsville, it's hard not to notice the faded lettering on the old Reidsville Grocery Companybuilding. Even after all those years, the name still hinted at a time when wholesale groceries were shipped out across the region. 04-08
The business dated back to the 1890s and became one of North Carolina's oldest wholesale grocery companies. By the time this photo was taken, the old brick warehouse had long since outlived its original purpose, but it was still one of downtown's more recognizable landmarks.
UPDATE: After standing for more than a century, the building suffered a major structural collapse in July 2026 and was demolished soon afterward. 07-26
Hoffman's Grocery
McBee, SC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
The old building seen here was located in McBee, SC. The sign overhead said Hoffman's Grocery but the faded letters got bleached out in this picture. I had to check this place out and found cases of old soda bottles, probably from the 1970's, inside as well as some empty boxes of all different products long sold still on the shelves. Hoffman's is defiantly a long forgotten roadside relic. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 04-08
Not much is known about Hoffman's Grocery, but it's exactly the kind of roadside relic that's worth slowing down for when you're exploring the back roads of South Carolina.
UPDATE: It may be unlikely that this old store still stands abandoned, as years of weather took its toll on the building and its faded sign. 07-26
John Boy's Country Store (Closed)
Walnut Cove, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Here's John Boy's Country Store in Walnut Cove, North Carolina, an interesting combination of an old neighborhood gas station and a much newer fuel canopy. The mix looks a little unusual, but somehow it all fits together. 04-08
Places like this were once common along small-town highways, growing and changing a little at a time instead of being completely rebuilt. The older storefront still gives the place plenty of character, even with the newer additions out front.
UPDATE: John Boy's Country Store has since closed, and the old building now sits vacant. 07-26
R J Reynolds Tobacco
Danville, VA Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Danville, VA appears to be a tobacco city with a gigantic ancient complex of Camel and R J Reynolds factory buildings, some of which were beginning to be restored for other uses. The entire area is probably not much changed since the nineteenth century. Here you see the RJ Reynolds smoke stack (Identical to the one in Durham, NC) from this complex. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 04-08
Driving through Danville, it's easy to see why tobacco shaped this city for so many years. Block after block is filled with old brick factory buildings, and rising above them all is the towering R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Complex smokestack. Much of this complex dates back to the turn of the twentieth century, when Danville was one of Virginia's busiest tobacco centers. By the time this photo was taken, several of the old warehouses were already beginning a new life while others still waited for their turn.
UPDATE: Much of the former tobacco complex has since been restored as apartments, shops, and offices, while the historic smokestack continues to stand over Danville's River District. 07-26
Pepsi Bottling
Danville, VA Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Here's what's left of the old Pepsi Building in Danville, Virginia. The painted Pepsi-Cola sign still stretches across the top of the brick building, making it easy to imagine when this was part of a much larger industrial complex. 04-08
The building started life in the 1880s as a brewery before eventually becoming home to a Pepsi bottling operation. By the 1950s, bottling had moved to a newer facility, leaving this old brick landmark behind.
UPDATE: The building has since been restored as part of Danville's River District and now serves as a public event venue, while the vintage Pepsi-Cola sign still overlooks Craghead Street. 07-26
Barnes-Harrell Company Coca-Cola Bottling Works
Wilson, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Driving through downtown Wilson, it's hard not to notice the Barnes-Harrell Company Coca-Cola Bottling Works. Most of the old Coca-Cola plants scattered across small Southern towns were fairly modest two-story buildings. This one is different. The sprawling brick complex and the faded Coca-Cola ghost signs hint at an operation that was built on a much larger scale. It's the kind of place that makes you slow down and wonder just how many bottles once rolled out those doors. 04-08
The Barnes-Harrell Company bottled Coca-Cola here for decades, supplying Wilson and communities across eastern North Carolina. At its peak, thousands of cases left the plant every week, making it one of the city's busiest industries. Unlike many old bottling plants that were demolished after production moved elsewhere, this one managed to survive, leaving behind an impressive reminder of the days when nearly every town had its own local Coca-Cola bottler.
Barnes-Harrell Company Coca-Cola Bottling Works
Wilson, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Take a walk around the building and you'll still find plenty to catch your eye. The weathered brickwork, old loading docks, and faded painted Coca-Cola lettering all tell the story without saying much. Even though the machinery is gone, it's easy to picture delivery trucks backed up to the loading doors and workers moving cases of bottles from one end of the plant to the other.
Wilson has changed over the years, but buildings like this help tell the story of the town's industrial past. The old plant is one of those places that's worth a second look, especially if you enjoy hunting down ghost signs and forgotten pieces of roadside America.
UPDATE: The former bottling plant still stands, though it no longer produces soft drinks. The faded Coca-Cola ghost signs continue to overlook downtown Wilson and remain one of the building's defining features. 07-26
American Tobacco Company Reidsville Plant (Closed)
The Plant (Closed)
Reidsville Grocery Company (Demolished)
Hoffman's Grocery
John Boy's Country Store (Closed)
R J Reynolds Tobacco
