Returning to Roost (or Roast)

About a year ago, we posted on the Mooresville Public Library's Facebook page about the old Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant that was located on the northeast corner of South Indiana and East South Streets in Mooresville from the late 1960s through spring 2011.  Since earlier this year (2022), a new KFC restaurant has been under construction about a half-block south, at the far north end of the Village Shopping Center (just south of the McDonalds restaurant).  Learn more here.

2022 construction photo by Peter Blanchard, Martinsville Reporter-Times, February 4, 2022

(Click Images to Enlarge)

New KFC Restaurant on South Indiana Street (Looking North)

(Photo Above & Next Eight Photos by William R. Buckley) (August 11, 2022)

 

In the photo above, you can see KFC's original location in the middle-right background.

New KFC Restaurant on South Indiana Street (Looking South)

(Intersection Cross-Street is South Street)

The photo above (looking south) was taken next to KFC's original location on the northeast corner of South Indiana and East South Streets.

So, what's now (2022) located at the old KFC site (360 South Indiana Street)?  Let's have a look.

Sal's Famous Pizzeria Express Is Now Located on the Old KFC Site

(Looking North Across East South Street) 

Sal's Famous Pizzeria Express (Looking Southeast Across South Indiana Street)

Originally, the KFC restaurant was situated at 360 South Indiana Street, just northeast of its new (2022) location.  Here's what it looked like when it closed in 2011, from about the same vantage point as the picture above:

KFC Restaurant Closed (Spring, 2011)

(After Over 40 Years at This Location)

(Looking South)

(Photo by William R. Buckley, May, 2011)

 

Kentucky Fried Chicken had been a Mooresville landmark on South Indiana Street for decades.  This was where my wife was first employed, if you don't count babysitting.  It was upon this establishment's floor in the mid-1970s that fruit drink was spilled, removing the tile's finish.  (In fairness, any sugary or carbonated beverage would have done that, if left too long on the floor.)  Cherished coming-of-age stories have been exchanged over the years about working there, when we lived in more carefree, prosperous times (isn't that the way we often see the past?).  In those days, long ago, you could get fried chicken AND beef & ham sandwiches there.  Employees occasionally exchanged chicken buckets, slaw, mashed potatoes, etc. for pizza (from staff working at a nearby pizza parlor), which was obviously frowned-upon by management.  There were many regular customers who would phone-in their carryout orders--you could set your watch by them, always on the same days and times.  Sometimes, employees could take home extra chicken wings for their families (and dogs or cats) to enjoy.

 

Take a look at this vintage photo below, which my wife, who, let us not forget, was born and bred in Mooresville (or, maybe, "breaded" is a better word, since she worked with the chicken batter), has identified as circa 1973 or 1974.  My limited knowledge of C-41 print photography color processing confirms this estimate.

KFC Restaurant on South Indiana Street (circa 1973-1974)

(View Looking North)

 

Drop by the new place sometime.  Use the drive-through or come inside.  You will get the same friendly service you would have received if you had visited a third of a century ago, when my wife dressed in something like this.

KFC Ad from 1974 Mooresville High School Yearbook, Wagon Trails

(Not My Wife in This Photo)

 

A few years before my wife worked at KFC, uniforms looked like this.

 

Vintage KFC Uniform (circa late 1960s)

That's not my wife in that photo, either.  She has red hair, and her posture is straighter.  She's also much prettier.  Plus her hands don't detach at the wrists.