Banana was a settlement along Etoniah Creek one mile south of present-day Melrose that existed before the Civil War and preceded Melrose. Settlers originally from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia may have chosen the creek as its site. In the 1870s, Banana was a self-sufficient farming community producing crops such as corn, peanuts, and sugar cane, and it included a post office-mercantile store, Eliam church, cemetery, gristmill, and turpentine processing for naval stores. The Orange Springs-to-Starke Road once passed east of the Banana Post Office and Mill Pond, and remains of the bridge across Etoniah Creek near the mill are still visible. Residents picked up groceries and mail at the combined storefront. A two-story building with a gristmill, owned by Doctor George Washington McRae (1829-1900), was built shortly after the Civil War; its iron wheel ground corn brought by local farmers and could be heard throughout the community. The mill continued operating until the 1930s, and its artifacts are preserved by Historic Melrose, Inc.