First Grocery Store Established In 1853 In Bristol

Today, most Bristolians depend upon a few large supermarkets for a food supply.
But how was it in the beginning of our city? Certainly it was far different than now.
Groceries from a store have been available in Bristol since Dec. 24, 1853. On that date, Joseph R. Anderson, the founder of Bristol, opened a general store in one room of his house that stood on the southwest corner of what is now State Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. (It was then 4th and Main).
But the offerings were very limited. The stock was mostly made up of foodstuffs that could not be produced locally.
During those first years of Bristol, most local citizens still grew a great part of their food. This was well exemplified by Mr. Anderson himself.
At first, the block on which his house was located was virtually a small farm. There, he kept two or three milk cows along with fattening hogs and a large flock of chickens. There was a large garden in back of his house, and fruit trees stood here and there over his town land.
There was a long grape arbor at the back of his lot along what is now Shelby Street. Near this grape arbor was a row of beehives. Further up at what is now Anderson Park, he had a large potato patch along with other truck patches.
Other early settlers here did not have so much land, but they used what they had to produce what they could. Some rented land near the town on which to grow fruit. Some owned larger farms near the town.
There was hardly a lot along State Street (old Main) that did not have one or more fruit trees. Oftentimes, there was a small garden at the back of the lot.
A guest at the first hotel here, the Columbia (that stood in front of the present First Baptist Church) once wrote of looking from his window at an otherwise drab town which was made beautiful by a virtual sea of blooming fruit trees.
Another guest, in the same hotel, wrote of being awakened about 4 a.m. by a chorus of roosters crowing nearby. Nearly all early Bristol homes had flocks of chickens for both eggs and meat.
The first three general stores that followed Anderson’s (Moore’s, James’ and Wilson’s) all in Bristol, Va., offered groceries but in limited amounts.
Much food used in Bristol in those early years came from nearby farmers who brought their produce into town to sell. Some sold from door to door, while others parked downtown. Sometimes, eggs were well aged and butter was rancid; nevertheless about anything edible would sell.
Most early merchants did more bartering than cash sales. Most sold on credit, some to their grave sorrow. It was well after 1900 before many stores instituted a “cash only” policy.
Sometimes, these stores identified that fact by the name they gave their business. “Spot Cash Store” at 20 Lee St. and “Cash and Carry” at 24 Moore are two examples of such stores. I might interject a statement here that “Cash and Carry” was operated by Roscoe Harrison, whose wife was the daughter of the noted H. P. King, a prince merchant in Bristol for many years.
In the late 1800s, there was an increase in grocery stores here, though at one point it seems that people were more thirsty than hungry. There were 12 grocery stores and 22 saloons!
By 1896, grocery stores here numbered 33. By 1901, the number had increased to 45 and in 1908, there were 58. By 1910, the number had zoomed up to 69. By then, many stores were in residential areas of the city. Hardly was there a home in Bristol that wasn’t within easy walking distance of a grocery outlet.
Then came the era of the big chain stores. First came Piggly Wiggly, operating here by 1923. It was located at 17-19 Moore St. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, better known as A & P was in Bristol by 1929 located at 21 Moore St. Kroger had set up at 15 Moore by 1932.
The careful reader may have noticed just how close those stores were to each other. Indeed, there were so close, and others joined them, that this portion of Moore Street was long known as “Grocer’s Row.”
Though a beachhead had been established by the big chain stores, it would be many years before they would dominate the food market here.
Later, I will write more on grocery stores as I found them at mid-century.

BUD PHILLIPS is a local historian and author. He can be reached at (276) 466-6435.