Our Home Town

Grifton, North Carolina

The Coffee Cabin is a small, family-owned and operated roasting company. It is located in Grifton, North Carolina, which is a short distance off of Highway 11 between Greenville and Kinston. Some would recognize Greenville, N.C. as the home of East Carolina University and the “Pirates”. Nestled among stately eastern pines and native cedars, Grifton is located on the shores of Contentnea Creek. It is also home to the annual "Shad Festival".

Contentnea Creek, early home to the "Skarohreh", (Tuscarora) Indians, carries pieces of history as it ebs and flows within the confines of her banks.

The name "Contentnea" is an anglicanized term, derived from a late 17th or early 18th century Tuscarora word associated with one of their native villages. Various attempted English spellings such as Can-tah-nah, Caughteghna, and Catechnea have been applied to this Skarohreh village, from which, Contentnea Creek gets her name. Loosely translated in English from the Tuscarora tongue, "Contentnea" means "pine-is-in-water".

The Tuscarora linguist, J.N.B. Hewitt, recorded that the Tuscarora nation was comprised of three sub-groups, one of which was the "Katenuaka", or "people of the submerged pine-tree". Thus, the association of the place with the people of "Contentnea Creek".

According to Teresa "Waterlily" Morris, a Tuscarora woman, "O-neh-weh-yuh-ka (North Carolina in Skarohreh tongue) was home to many families being Tuscarora. They lived along the banks of the Neuse, including Contentnea Creek. They were happy in being linked with the Neuse and being one with the river they prayed in their native tongue." (Contentnea Creek also used to be known as the North Branch of the Neuse River.)

The Contentnea Creek flows into the Neuse River a few miles down stream from Grifton. Both the Neuse and the Contentnea are awesome fishing spots for the coveted "hickory shad" which is what the festival is all about.

Prizes are awarded for the first shad of the season and the biggest one caught--(not the one that got away!!) Many folks catch the shad and eat the "roe" out of the females...we, however, are not those "folks". Preferring our eggs to come from chickens, we leave the roe for others and catch the shad for the fun of it.

If you'd like to find out more about the festival and Grifton, please visit www.grifton.com/shadfest.html for photos and more information.