Coffee roasting in Asheville in days of yesteryear
It used to be that wholesale grocers roasted their own coffee. The Ebbs Bros. Grocers building still stands facing Roberts Street with "1923" engraved over the door, and the faded paint on the side of the building still reads "Ebbs Bros. Roasters of High Grade Coffee", and "Home of Pisgah Blend".
(The Ebbs building and Roberts Street gained a certain immortality as one of the Asheville locations for the filming of the movie "Thunder Road". Speaking of the ghost of Robert Mitchum, I saw this 1950 Ford for sale, parked under the Riverlink bridge.)
I recently found there was another, earlier grocer and roaster just a half mile away at 351 Depot Street. There's a modern facade but you can still see part of the Mustin-Robertson Wholesale Grocer sign painted on the brick. In a 1909 Asheville city directory, a certain Jefferson Brigman was listed with the occupation of 'coffee roaster' at Mustin- Robertson.
Next: Asheville's first coffee shop? The Crystal Dairy Lunch on Patton Ave.