610 W. FRANKLIN ST. / CROOK'S CORNER

View east, 1939 (screenshot from H. Lee Waters film)

View east, 1939 (screenshot from H. Lee Waters film)

View north west, 1940s

Rachel Crook, 1940s

View northwest, 1951 (photo by Roland Giduz)

View north east, 1970s

The structure was built in the 1930s as a filling/service station.

Rachel Crook opened a produce and fish market in the former service station in 1943. She was murdered, possibly at this location, in 1951.

Post-1951, the building was utilized as a taxi stand, bait and tackle shop, pool hall, and Brooks & Tobin used car lot. In 1978 Cam Hill remodeled the building and opened a BBQ place, naming it Crook’s Corner in honor of Rachel Crook. In 1982, Bill Neal and Gene Hamer re-remodeled the building and opened their new restaurant as Crook's Corner. The business was sold in 2018 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 pandemic, and apparently struggled to regain its footing after reopening last fall. It closed after serving its final meals on Sunday, June 6th, 2021.