History Question

What is the source of the name for the old
Grist community just west of Chadbourn?

History Question Answer

Grist, without an “s” on the end, and pronounced Grice, is probably named for the Grist family of Craven County. Records from the 1800s show James R. Grist was a successful landowner, farmer and businessman from the New Bern area.

As soon as the Wilmington & Manchester Railroad was completed across Columbus County in 1854, several turpentine distilleries were established, including Grist, Peacock, Jonesboro, Jackson Crossing, Maxwell and Colby’s – most of them from present-day Bolton west to Fair Bluff.

There was a large store at Grist in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the strawberry and vegetable growers in that area formed their own association, and sold their crops as a group named the Truckers Association of Grist.