Coca-Cola has been part of the town of Opelika, Ala. since the first bottling plant opened in 1902. At the beginning of this summer, however, the connection became even deeper when store owner Dozier Smith T unknowingly uncovered a painted Coca-Cola wall advertisement that had been covered for over 100 years.

Dozier began renovations in his building supply store at the beginning of June and, as his team began to remove wood paneling from one of the walls, noticed what looked like a painted, cursive “a” and “5₵.” Recognizing the famous script over the iconic red backdrop, he decided to carefully remove the remaining plaster from the wall.

And his intuition was right. Upon removing all of the plaster, the wall revealed a perfectly intact painted advertisement for Coca-Cola.

The building that now houses the Winston Smith T Building Supply company was built in 1910. The store was first occupied by Frederick’s Furniture, followed by Canon Motor before the Smith T family moved their business to the building in 1931. Dozier now runs the company and can recount the history of events of the building. Knowing that the Smith T family did not create the ad or fund it, he believes the sign was painted prior to their move, possibly in the early 1900s. The advertisement on the Smith T Building Supply wall promotes the tagline “Relieves Fatigue,” which became a selling point for Coke in the early 1900s. The wall ad also highlights the price and selling of Coca-Cola: “5₵” and “Sold Everywhere.” This was another promotion of the beverage that is not found in ads after the early 1920s. These historical points about Coca-Cola advertising reveal some detail about the original creation of this specific Coca-Cola outdoor ad.

The building is located next to the railroad that travels to Atlanta. Dozier notes that the location of the sign would have been very visible to any train traffic that came through the area and is a prominent spot for advertisements for that purpose. Because the wall was covered for decades, the paint is still in incredible condition. Dozier is looking into preserving the sign and hopes to keep it intact as a monumental example of Coke's history.