610 W. Franklin St. / Crook's Corner

The structure was built sometime between 1928 and 1935 as a (gas) filling station. The property was lots 3-7 of "The Lloyd Place," which was subdivided in 1927. May have been Sam O'Briant's used car lot in the late-1920/early 1930s. By the late 1930s it was Strowd's used car lot (jokingly referred to by some locals as "Strowd's used car garden"). In 1937 the addition ("car shelter") to the east was built.

In 1943, Rachel L.Crook opened a produce and fish market in the structure after renovating it; it was described by her as having recently been used as a "chicken house." She also operated a five-machine laundrette (Chapel Hill's first self-serve laundromat, beginning in August 1947), she also sold flowers, plants, "Schley" pecans (from Alabama), local crafts, textile remnants (such as "Dan River short lengths"). Crook lived in a rear corner of the building. She purchased the property from F. L. and Lovey A. McCoy in July 1946. Crook was kidnapped from and/or murdered at this location on August 29, 1951.

After Crook's death, the property was inherited by her sister Rosa C. McLain and neice Rachel B. McLain, who rented the building to Leonard Blackburn (a farmer from the Blackwood Station area). Blackburn operated a produce market from the building as Blackburn's Produce (in May 1953 he also obtained a license to sell beer, and in April 1959 he was licensed to sell fortified wine at the business) until circa 1962. It was still known as Crook's Corner.

It was later utilized as (dates are approximate) Melton's Produce (1963-1974), Tar Heel Cab Company (1975-1976), and Z Air Conditioning and Heating (1976-1978). In 1978 Cam Hill remodeled the building and in early 1979 opened a BBQ restaurant and bar, naming it Crook’s Corner Barbecue (he also, BTW, installed the fiberglass pig that artist Bob Gaston made on the roof at this point). In the summer of 1980 Crook's manager Ray Wittenburg started a dance "club" in the restaurant, calling it The Pig Club.

In March 1982, Bill Neal and Gene Hamer re-remodeled the building and opened their new restaurant, keeping the name Crook's Corner. In 1983 they remodelled the patio, Bob Gaston built a fountain there, and they planted the bamboo. In 1985 they had some of Clyde Jones "Critters" put on the roof and in the patio area. New York Times food critic Craig Clairborne's July 1985 review of the restaurant made it nationally famous. In 1986 flower beds were constructed in the front of the building and on the patio. In September 1989, several UNC students pranked Neal and Hamer by taking the Pig off the roof; it was found floating in Eastwood Lake (to prevent it from happening again they had the pig epoxied to its stand). In 1991 Bill Neal died, and in 1993 Bill Smith was hired as chef.

In 2017 Rachel McLain's estate sold the property to James A. Stewart, who in turn sold it to Nancy Pierce and Carol McLain in 2018. Also in 2018, the business was sold to Gary Crunkleton and Shannon Healy (a Crook's Corner alumnus).

I am deeply saddened to say (especially being a Crook's alumnus myself) that Crook's Corner is now closed. It shut down in the spring of 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and apparently struggled to regain its footing after reopening last fall. It closed after serving its final meals on Sunday, June 6th, 2021.