The 1906 Romanesque Revival bottling plant where Dr Pepper was manufactured for decades; certified as a haunted location after the 1953 F5 tornado killed a worker on the premises, now offering weekly paranormal investigation tours.
300 S 5th St, Waco, TX 76701
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
General museum admission: $10 adults (check website for current pricing). Paranormal Experience tours: $35 per person. Paranormal tours are 18+ only.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic factory building with multiple floors; accessibility varies by area.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1906 · National Register of Historic Places (1983) · Romanesque Revival industrial architecture, 1906 · Original Dr Pepper bottling plant · Site of May 11, 1953 Waco F5 tornado fatality
The Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building at 300 S 5th Street was completed in 1906 in a Romanesque Revival style. It served as the primary Dr Pepper bottling facility for Waco — the birthplace of the drink — for more than five decades before production moved elsewhere in the 1960s. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 26, 1983, and now operates as the Dr Pepper Museum, which opened in 1991.
The catastrophic F5 tornado that struck downtown Waco on May 11, 1953, killed 114 people and remains one of the deadliest tornadoes in Texas history. Bill Little, who was working at the Dr Pepper plant that day, recorded an oral history preserved by the museum. According to Little, the plant's chief mechanic — a man known only by his nickname Shorty — volunteered to drive a truck across the street to the storage lot because he had a raincoat. When the tornado hit, Shorty tried to find shelter against the wall of a coffee warehouse. The entire building collapsed on top of him, and it took several days to recover his body.
The broader tornado also left a traumatic imprint on the factory building itself. Staff accounts describe the building as carrying what educational manager Rachel Moore has called 'imprinted energy' from the thousands of workers who performed repetitive tasks there over decades — the argument being that concentrated human presence leaves detectable residue. The museum was formally certified as a haunted location following a paranormal investigation that included interviews with former staff and their family members.
Sources
The anchor figure in the Dr Pepper Museum's paranormal lore is Shorty, a nickname for the plant's chief mechanic whose full name has not been established in public sources. According to the oral history recorded by Bill Little — a colleague who was present — Shorty offered to drive a truck to the storage lot across the street when the May 11, 1953 tornado struck because he was wearing a raincoat. He sought shelter against the wall of the coffee warehouse, and the building collapsed on him. His body took several days to recover. The truck in the museum's courtyard is the focal point for activity investigators associate with Shorty.
Beyond Shorty, the museum has documented a wide range of reported phenomena over decades of staff accounts. Shadow figures have been reported in both the main museum building and the adjacent Kellum-Rotan building. A few staff members and tour guests have described full-body apparitions. Cans have reportedly fallen from shelves that were properly secured, and staff in the main AMBC building have heard knocking sounds from a specific locked third-floor office — sounds that one tour guest described as footsteps running to the other side of the door in response to a knock. Cindy Little of Waco Ghosts has described an incident during a tour in which tactile paranormal contact was reported by multiple participants.
Educational manager Rachel Moore has offered an explanation drawing on the concept of residual or imprinted energy: workers performing the same tasks thousands of times daily across decades may leave a detectable trace in the physical space. The museum offers a formal Paranormal Experience tour every select Saturday evening using EMF readers, dowsing rods, and flashlights.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
A two-hour after-hours investigation led by museum staff through both historic buildings including the off-limits basement of the Kellum-Rotan Building. Participants use EMF detectors, dowsing rods, and flashlights. Groups limited to 24 people. Ages 18 and older only. Tickets must be booked online.
Explore the history of Dr Pepper from its Waco invention through the bottling era. The Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building (1906) is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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