Cultural Center
Christmas Ornaments
"The Original Cypress
Grill" Jamesville NC, 1936 - 2018
“The Original Cypress Grill” was one
of the last “authentic fish shacks” in North Carolina when it burned to
the ground on July 22, 2018. The Friends of Old Martin County
Courthouse, Inc. have chosen this memorable place in Martin County
history as our 2019 ornament.
The Cypress Grill was owned by three
generations of the Roberson family in Jamesville, NC. Ransom Roberson, a
logger, bought the land along the Roanoke around 1935 and built a simple
“cook-up shack” where he could cook, play cards and enjoy a little
“toddy” with friends on the bank of the river. Family legend has it that
the shack burned after a poker game dispute. The shack was later
replaced and evolved into the Cypress Grill. The property passed on to
Ransom and Mae Williams Roberson’s children and was bought from his
siblings by their younger son, Alva “Red” Roberson and his wife Mamie
Louise Holiday Roberson. Their daughters, Deane Phelps and Amy Hardison,
owned the property when it burned to the ground in 2018.
While the Roberson family owned the land and
building, they never operated the restaurant. For most of its life they
leased it to two local families who opened it to the public for four
months each spring coinciding with the herring run. The Williams family
operated the business for more than two decades. Leslie and Sally
Gardner and their family kept the business open each spring for more
than four decades. Their daughter, Kathy Davis, had taken over
operations in the last few years.
Johnny Philpott, a well-known local sign
painter and artist, made the first sign which is still in existence.
When the sign became badly faded, Leslie Gardner asked artist Bailey
Phelps, who married Ransom & Mae's granddaughter Deane about the same
time that the Gardner’s began running the business, to reproduce the
original sign.
During the decades of its operation the
Cypress Grill was a landmark on the Roanoke. Celebrities, politicians
and visitors by the bus load from far and wide enjoyed the simple fare
featuring herring, rockfish stew, stewed potatoes, slaw and hushpuppies
and, in later years, the addition of amazing homemade pies. While the
food certainly was the star feature, the atmosphere was a close second.
The simple, one-layer board-and-batten cypress walls allowed sunlight to
peep through the gaps. Just getting to the restaurant and parking was an
adventure as the rapidly moving water loomed threateningly at the bottom
of the steep “river hill.”
The Cypress Grill was famous enough to make
it into Southern Living magazine, Our State magazine, the New York
Times, The Splendid Table NPR radio show and many more well-known media.
(Fish Tales Quilt Block image) The Grill
recently had been included on the Tar & Roanoke Rivers Quilt Trail with
a “Fish Tales” painted quilt block symbolizing the area’s rich heritage.
The Friends are appreciative to Bailey Phelps
for his artwork and to Deane Roberson Phelps and her sister, Amy
Roberson Hardison, for sharing their family memories for this history
card.
Ornaments are on sale from November 1 to
December 31
Call 252-792-5243 Today!