Excavators made fast work this week of the demolition of a one-time local hotspot, and one of the last reminders of a bygone era in the community.
To younger generations, the property at the intersection of McGoodwin Avenue and Madisonville Street may be remembered as the home of Sandy’s Saddle Shop.
To those who came of age in the ’50s and ’60s, though, the property will forever be remembered as the Corner Grill restaurant and the Boaz Uptown Motel.
The restaurant and motel peaked under the ownership of Rufus and Margrey Boaz, who took over the businesses in the late 1940s and continued to run them until they closed.
Rufus died in 2006; his wife continues to live in their McGoodwin Avenue home, adjacent to the businesses they owned for decades.
“I see a lot of work going down in the hole over there,” she said Saturday, as demolition work began on the motel. “A lot of work.”
Originally a service station, the Corner Grill became a restaurant in 1949, she said.
The Boazes, married a year earlier, bought into the operation, which was co-owned by one of Rufus’ sisters and her husband.
Rufus and Margrey bought them out about a year later, she said, and began their career in what would become a trend-setting establishment.
At that time, the Western Kentucky Parkway had not been built (construction on the parkway’s original 127 miles was completed in 1963), and U.S. 62 was the major route through Caldwell County.
That “main drag” status led businesses on the highway to flourish, and the Corner Grill and motel were no exceptions.
For teenagers, the restaurant, along with the Tiger Den and the Cool Dip, became a popular stop on the local cruising circuit.
The Corner Grill had it all — curbside service, carhops and late hours, staying open until midnight.
Its food was also noteworthy.
“We had all kinds of food over there for a little joint,” said Boaz.
The restaurant became famous locally for its hamburgers and cheeseburgers.
“We used to sell six hamburgers for a dollar,” said Boaz.
A sign on the restaurant in an undated photo from the business’s early days states “Sandwiches Are Our Business” and advertises 25-cent steakburgers — 30 cents for the DeLuxe version.
The restaurant, Boaz said, would expand to offer a variety of other foods: beans, cornbread, fish, hot beef and more.
Pizza was also on the menu — the Corner Grill was the first eatery in the city to offer the now-ubiquitous cuisine.
Boaz said her husband would meet a delivery man from Hopkinsville at the Hopson Store to pick up pizza crusts and bring them back to the restaurant to cook.
“The first one I ever ate, I didn’t like it,” she said. “But I do now.”
As the restaurant grew in popularity, the Boazes began the construction of a motel next door, four units at a time.
An advertisement for the Boaz Uptown Motel in a 1963 telephone directory boasts of “free TV and radio in air conditioned rooms.”
A room in the new motel cost about $5 a night for an individual, $12 for a family, she said.
Out-of-towners frequented the motel. Locals looking for a room, though, were turned away.
“I would not take local people,” she said. “I’ve been cussed out good.”
Through it all, the Boazes ran their businesses as true “mom and pop” establishments.
One employee in the motel and three or four in the restaurant fleshed out their workforce, and they used the kitchen of their home next door as their office.
“We had a good business for a little place,” Boaz said. “We’ve educated four kids by this establishment, I can tell you. That’s my greatest accomplishment.”
After the parkway was completed, U.S. 62 lost its status as the primary route through the county, and establishments like the motel and the Corner Grill took a hit.
“When the expressway came in, we were off the road, you know. The wrong side of town,” she said. “So the business stopped.”
The Boazes tried to hang on, but low numbers ultimately led to the closure of both businesses in the late 1970s.
In a few years, one of the Boazes’ sons, Sandy, returned to the Corner Grill building and made it the headquarters for his saddle and tack business.
He remained there for about 20 years before opting to move the business to a barn near his Dawson Road home in 2006.
The condition of the restaurant and motel buildings continued to deteriorate after that move, leading to their demise this week, and one more quiet lot on a road where commerce once thrived.
