Edward C. Barq, a chemist from New Orleans, moved to Biloxi in 1897 and opened the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works in this building. It was on this property that he created the formula that would become Barq's rootbeer in 1898. His famous rootbeer was bottled here until 1936 when operations were moved to a larger building on Lameuse Street. Barq's was sold to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in 1995.