This 300-year-old North Carolina river town invented Pepsi in a corner drugstore

A colonial capital with a surprising soft-drink secret

Two rivers meet at New Bern, North Carolina, and the town that grew up on that corner has been collecting history ever since.

Founded in 1710, it served as the colony’s first permanent capital, survived a fire that leveled more than a thousand buildings, and somehow became the place where one of the world’s most recognized soft drinks was born in a corner drugstore.

More than 80 painted bears are watching you from the sidewalks. The reasons behind all of it run deeper than you’d expect.

Swiss roots and a name borrowed from across the Atlantic

Baron Christoph von Graffenried led Swiss and Palatine German settlers to this stretch of eastern North Carolina in 1710 and named the new settlement after Bern, the capital of Switzerland.

They built on land that had been a Tuscarora village called Chattoka, and the early years brought serious conflict as a result. By 1770, New Bern had grown into the colonial capital of North Carolina.

The capital moved to Raleigh in 1794 when lawmakers wanted a more central location, and the original palace burned four years after that.

Tryon Palace: the governor’s mansion rebuilt from scratch

English architect John Hawks designed Tryon Palace between 1767 and 1770 as both a royal governor’s mansion and colonial capitol for Governor William Tryon. A cellar fire destroyed the original building in 1798.

More than 150 years later, a group of determined citizens led by Maude Moore Latham took Hawks’ original plans and rebuilt the palace from the ground up.

It opened to the public in April 1959 as a state historic site and stands today as the centerpiece of New Bern’s historic district.

Walk through 16 acres of gardens and three centuries of history

Inside the palace, costumed interpreters take you through furnished rooms that put you squarely in the 1700s.

Outside, 16 acres of period-style gardens trace three centuries of gardening history, and the grounds include two historic homes: the John Wright Stanly House and the Robert Hay House.

The North Carolina History Center opened on the grounds in 2010 and adds interactive exhibits and regional history galleries to the visit.

George Washington stopped here in April 1791 during his Southern Tour for a dinner and a dancing assembly.

The corner drugstore where Pepsi-Cola was invented

In 1893, a pharmacist named Caleb Bradham started mixing a carbonated drink at his drugstore on the corner of Middle and Pollock Streets. Regulars called it Brad’s Drink.

On Aug. 28, 1898, Bradham renamed it Pepsi-Cola, pulling the name from “dyspepsia,” the medical term for indigestion, because he believed the drink helped settle the stomach.

By December 1902 he had incorporated the Pepsi-Cola Company, and by 1910, about 240 franchises were running across 24 states. That same corner still stands, now home to a shop full of memorabilia from those early days.

Over 80 painted bears are scattered across the city streets

New Bern has a bear problem, and the locals are proud of it.

Bears show up on the city seal, on police cars, on the high school mascot, and on flags around town.

In 2010, to mark the city’s 300th anniversary, local artists and area businesses teamed up to place more than 50 painted fiberglass bear statues around town.

The collection has since grown past 80, each one painted differently.

About 28 of them cluster downtown, and the Visitors Center hands out free maps so you can track them all down.

The firehouse museum with a horse head on display

New Bern organized North Carolina’s first chartered fire company in 1845 under the name Atlantic Hook and Ladder Company.

During the Civil War, Union soldiers formed a rival company, and the competition between the two groups lasted for decades. The Great Fire of 1922 tore through the city and destroyed more than a thousand structures.

The Firemen’s Museum opened in 1955 inside the original 1928 fire station on Broad Street, and its most talked-about exhibit is the preserved head of Fire Horse Fred, who worked for the department for 17 years.

Union Point Park sits where both rivers come together

Walk to the end of downtown and you’ll hit Union Point Park, a six-acre green space at the exact spot where the Neuse and Trent Rivers meet.

There’s a gazebo, picnic areas, a fishing pier, two boat launches, and a boardwalk that connects to Bicentennial Park next door. Middle Street runs through the center of downtown lined with local shops and galleries.

The New Bern Farmers Market sets up every Saturday year-round from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 421 South Front St., and October brings MumFest to the waterfront.

Paddle, fish, or cruise on two wide rivers

The Neuse and Trent give you a lot of water to work with.

You can kayak, paddleboard, fish for speckled trout, red drum, and striped bass in the brackish water, or hop on a guided river cruise that covers local history and wildlife along the way.

Near its mouth, the Neuse River spreads to about six miles wide, putting it among the widest rivers in North Carolina.

Public boat launches at Union Point Park and Lawson Creek Park get you on the water without any hassle.

Croatan National Forest: alligators, carnivorous plants, and coastal bogs

About 160,000 acres of national forest start just south of New Bern, and Croatan is the only true coastal national forest in the eastern United States.

Water borders it on three sides: the Neuse River, Bogue Sound, and the White Oak River.

Venus flytraps and pitcher plants grow in the pocosins, the raised shrubby bogs that spread across the Carolina coast, and the forest is home to deer, black bears, wild turkeys, and alligators.

Brice’s Creek near New Bern runs through the forest and draws paddlers looking for a quiet route through the trees.

Trails from a 21-mile backcountry route to a short coastal loop

The Neusiok Trail covers 21 miles through swamps and pine forest and connects to the Mountains-to-the-Sea Trail for longer trips.

Cedar Point Tideland Trail gives you a 1.5-mile easy loop through salt marshes along the White Oak River.

The Island Creek Forest Walk cuts through hardwood forest closer to town and works well if you have an hour or two. Off-road riders and mountain bikers have eight miles of trail on the Black Swamp OHV Trail.

Flanners Beach Recreation Area, about 12 miles south of New Bern, adds campsites and a swimming beach to the mix.

A Civil War battlefield and a heritage trail through the city

Union forces won the Battle of New Bern on March 14, 1862, and their control of the area shifted the local economy and population in lasting ways.

Before the war, New Bern’s port had made it home to a significant community of free Black residents. The New Bern Civil War Battlefield Park now preserves more than 30 acres of the original site.

The African American Heritage Trail lays out a self-guided walking tour through the historically significant places tied to that story.

The New Bern Academy, established in 1766, was one of the earliest schools in North Carolina.

Visit New Bern, North Carolina

New Bern sits about 112 miles east of Raleigh in Craven County and is reachable by car on US Highway 70. The Coastal Carolina Regional Airport nearby handles connecting flights if you’re coming from farther out.

Start at the New Bern Visitors Center at 316 South Front St., where the staff can hand you free maps, brochures, and the bear statue guide. From there, the whole historic downtown opens up in front of you on foot.

October’s MumFest and December holiday events are worth planning around if your schedule allows.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• This tiny North Carolina town was America’s capital before anyone knew there was an America
• What happened to Christopher Memminger, the man who bankrupted the Confederacy?
• How two Carolina Algonquians’ trip to England split the fate of Roanoke Colony