At the turn of the twentieth century, New Bern was already an old city. Its streets carried the history of colonial North Carolina, its waterfront connected the community to the Neuse and Trent rivers, and its downtown businesses served generations of families. Yet inside one New Bern pharmacy, something new was taking shape—something that would eventually carry the name of this small North Carolina city around the world.
That story belonged to Caleb Davis Bradham, a New Bern pharmacist, businessman, and the creator of Pepsi-Cola.
A Drink Born in New Bern
Bradham operated a pharmacy in downtown New Bern, where, like many pharmacists of the era, he maintained a soda fountain. These fountains were gathering places as much as they were counters for refreshments. Customers stopped to visit, talk about the day's news, and enjoy the flavored and carbonated drinks that were becoming increasingly popular across America.
It was there that Bradham began experimenting with his own beverage.
His creation was originally known as “Brad's Drink.” Made and served at his New Bern soda fountain, the drink proved popular with customers. Bradham believed he had created more than simply a refreshing beverage, and in 1898, he gave it the name that would make it famous:
Pepsi-Cola.
From a pharmacy in New Bern, North Carolina, one of the world's most recognizable brand names had been born.
From a Soda Fountain to a Growing Company
The popularity of Pepsi-Cola soon extended beyond Bradham's pharmacy.
Bradham began concentrating the syrup and supplying it to soda fountains elsewhere. As demand increased, the business expanded. In 1902, he organized the Pepsi-Cola Company, and the following year the Pepsi-Cola trademark was officially registered.
What had begun as a local fountain drink was becoming a commercial enterprise.
Pepsi-Cola grew rapidly during the early twentieth century, establishing bottling franchises and reaching customers far beyond eastern North Carolina. For a time, Bradham's New Bern creation appeared headed toward extraordinary success under the leadership of the man who had created it.
But business history rarely follows a straight line.
Success, Risk and a Dramatic Reversal
World War I brought instability to the sugar market, a critical concern for a beverage company. Sugar prices rose dramatically, and Bradham made costly decisions while attempting to protect his company from further increases.
Instead, sugar prices collapsed.
The financial consequences were devastating. The company Bradham had built eventually entered bankruptcy, and control of the Pepsi-Cola name passed from his hands.
It might have been the end of the story.
It wasn't.
Pepsi-Cola survived changes in ownership, financial struggles and fierce competition. Over the decades that followed, it grew into an international beverage brand recognized throughout the world.
And no matter how large the company became or how far its products traveled, the beginning of the story remained the same:
New Bern, North Carolina.
The Pharmacist Behind the Famous Name
Caleb Bradham's life was larger than the beverage he created.
He was a pharmacist and businessman, but he was also deeply connected to his community and served in the North Carolina Naval Militia, later continuing military service during the First World War era.
After losing control of the Pepsi-Cola Company, Bradham returned to the pharmacy business in New Bern.
There is something distinctly New Bern about that part of the story.
Long before Pepsi became associated with international advertising campaigns, professional athletes, celebrities, stadiums and supermarket shelves, it was the idea of a local pharmacist working behind a counter in a small historic city along the Neuse and Trent rivers.
Bradham could not have known how far the name he created would eventually travel.
New Bern's Place in the Pepsi Story
Today, millions of people recognize the Pepsi name without knowing the remarkable connection between the global brand and New Bern.
But here, the story remains part of the city's identity.
The birthplace of Pepsi-Cola represents something larger than the history of a soft drink. It is a reminder that nationally and internationally significant stories do not always begin in major cities or corporate boardrooms.
Sometimes they begin in a neighborhood business.
Sometimes they begin with experimentation and imagination.
And sometimes they begin behind a pharmacy counter in New Bern, North Carolina.
More than a century after Caleb Bradham renamed his fountain drink Pepsi-Cola, the company that grew from his idea has become part of global popular culture.
Yet the first chapter will always belong to New Bern.
Every street has a story. This one reached the world.