Coronet Motel / Circus Room, 2770 McCords Ferry Road: 1980s 5 comments
I probably should remember seeing this place more, as we drove past it on the way to the beach innumerable times while I was growing up. However, I always had my nose in a book, so I was only vaguely aware of the name Circus Room and couldn't have told you where it was. Or, for that matter, *what* it was. At this remove, my understanding is that The Circus Room was actually a circus style tent set up on the grounds of the Coronet Inn at the intersection of US-601 & US-378 in Eastover, and that the tent hosted a restaurant and nightclub. Even in these days of the metro area creeping ever outwards, this is a pretty rural area, and back in the day it must have been even stranger to find a well regarded hotspot here.
What was the attraction? Google pulls up this hint from the 2006 cookbook Cookin' with Cocky II: More Than Just a Cookbook
Bright Stevenson:
I first met Bright in the Fall of 1956. Bright owned the Coronet Motel and Circus Room nightclub in Eastover. The Circus Room had the finest food and the only mixed drinks in the Columbia area at that time.
The two ads above are from the Sumter Register in 1974 and 1976 respectively.
Amazingly, both Coronet motels still exist and still are in operation, although under different names and ownership. The Eastover location is currently an Anyday Inn and is now combined with a convenience store run in the old office.
The topic has come up in Have Your Say from time to time, and here is what some people have recalled:
Tom
John Merrell
Michael Taylor
She also said the guy who built the motel back in the fifties still drops into the convenience store every day.
jamie
Sid
UPDATE 24 October 2014: Added Yellow Pages graphic from the 1970 Southern Bell phonebook.
UPDATE 8 September 2021: Add map icon, update tags.
UPDATE 4 March 2022: I should probably add a link here to the final(?) fate of the Coronet building: Anyday Inn.
5 Responses to 'Coronet Motel / Circus Room, 2770 McCords Ferry Road: 1980s'
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Tom
17 Oct 14 at 11:28 am
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Also, if I'm remembering correctly, Bright Stevenson was the owner of "Bright's" restaurant, an all-night 'Waffle House' kind of restaurant somewhere near the current Zaxby's near Richland Mall. It was there until either the late 80s or early 90s. After they closed, they opened a different restaurant called "Southern Connection" or something like that in the Leesburg Plaza, in the location currently housing "Pizza Palace."
badger
18 Oct 14 at 3:06 pm
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Bright's son Jimmy owns "Southern Way Catering".
Eric
18 Oct 14 at 5:37 pm
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Our Brookland Cayce Class of '69 is planning our 50th reunion and it started me thinking about my senior prom. It was a double-date for dinner to the Circus Room. The dining area was located under a very colorful smaller version of a "big-top" tent. We were 18 and were legally offered cocktails before dinner. So funny because none of us knew how or what to order. There was a small combo band with a female soloist...I think it was Maisie Bissell but not sure. Food and service was excellent but my date? Not so much! I might add dinner was THE best part of my prom experience!
Ellie
18 Jun 18 at 7:21 pm
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While stationed at Shaw AFB I worked at the Circus Room as a waiter for a few months. The food was great, the place was spotless and the staff worked as if they owned the place which I found refreshing. I grew up in Miami and I can attest that there was a standard of excellence that surpassed some of the biggest hotels on Miami Beach if no some of the better restaurants. We even had white linen on our sleves when serving the customers. First class all the way.
4 Mar 22 at 5:53 pm
I never ate there, but I remember hearing people driving from all over Richland County to eat there and almost everyone raved about the food.