Cayce Lunch / Philips 66 / Cayce Bait & Tackle Co, Inc. / Frink Street Social Club / B & B Corner Bar & Grill, 506 Frink Street: May 2011 19 comments
I have to admit that when commenter badger mentioned this place (at the corner of State & Frink Streets) was closed, I had never even heard of Frink Street. As it turns out, I have crossed over it on my way down the 12th Street extension to I-77, but I'm pretty sure I had never actually been on it before this last Sunday. In terms of this blog, it presents something of a "target rich environment". Does anyone know where the interesting (and fun-to-say) name comes from?
From the look at the layers on the roadside sign, I'm guessing this place was a Philips 66 before anything else in the list, with that name being painted over for the Bait & Tackle name. The Secretary of State's web site says that Cayce Bait & Tackle went under in 2004, in some sort of forfeiture, and was followed by the Frink Street Social Club which has never been officially dissolved. I'm not sure if B & B would be the connected with the club or not, but kudos to them for not using the trendy (and incorrect) Grille spelling in their name..
(As an aside, the "look" of this building would tend to validate this one as a Philips 66).
(Hat tip to commenter badger).
UPDATE 12 June 2011: Commenter badger sends in this picture of the "Lizard Woman" mural that once graced Cayce Bait & Tackle:
Thanks!
But of course, I must remind folks of the real story of South Carolina's lizard infestation, related by my sister (who changed names to protect the innocent) in her book, The Lizard Man of Crabtree County
UPDATE 6 February 2012: Added Cayce Lunch to the post title based on information from commenter Sid whose family used to own the place -- be sure to read the comments! Also, apparently the Philips 66 was a separate building (now gone?).
19 Responses to 'Cayce Lunch / Philips 66 / Cayce Bait & Tackle Co, Inc. / Frink Street Social Club / B & B Corner Bar & Grill, 506 Frink Street: May 2011'
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JBL
31 May 11 at 11:16 pm
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The section to the Government Locks and that River something or other subdivision is still closed?
tonkatoy
1 Jun 11 at 6:52 am
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JBL, it actually comes out at Riverland Drive, close to where Old State Road and New State Road meet. If you then follow Old State/State Road, you will end up in Summerville.
Jonathan
1 Jun 11 at 9:21 am
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ted's right about that area being a target rich environment for him.
You get to go see Cayce School, ted?
tonkatoy
1 Jun 11 at 11:19 am
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Hmm. I don't recall seeing a school-looking site.. Whereabouts on Frink is it?
ted
1 Jun 11 at 5:10 pm
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Until a few years ago this building had "the Lizard Woman" painted on its side. If I had to hazzard a guess, the closing of the road over the CSX tracks at this intersection last year may have killed this business.
Tom
1 Jun 11 at 5:38 pm
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Well, shows how little I know, and how long it's been since I've ridden bikes in Cayce. I didn't even know State St was closed at the RR tracks now. I'm assuming the spur from the bike trail that climbs the hill to State/Frink St is still there. Anyway.
JBL
1 Jun 11 at 11:46 pm
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State Street runs to Frink and used to run past the Railroad Track but not anymore...it looks to be a quarry of some sort and unless you have business with said quarry, you might as well not fool with it
Andrew
2 Jun 11 at 12:06 am
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ted, it isn't on Frink, it's at Poplar and third but you might be interested next time you're out there. Poplar runs into State Street.
Andrew, State is being repaired past Frink, so they say, but it has been closed a while.
Frink Street was the site of the state's largest mass murder. Four folks were shot to death back in 78, IIRC. Tied with the Root Doctor murders.
tonkatoy
2 Jun 11 at 6:39 am
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Folks, I've added the "Lizard Woman" mural photo from commenter badger -- Thanks!
ted
12 Jun 11 at 1:53 pm
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The building in the top photo was The Cayce Lunch, a diner/restaurant. My folks owned it in the mid-1950s.
Entrance was at the corner of State and Frink Streets. Two narrow dining rooms, as I recall (probably had been two separate store spaces, but were joined when someone knocked out part of the wall that separated them. Along the Frink Street wall was a lunch counter, a few booths across the aisle from the lunch counter. The other room was just a dining room, booths and tables. There was no shaded deck out back, just tanks of cooking gas and trash cans (remember those, before dumpsters?). Big plate glass windows facing State Street. A small window behind the counter facing Frink St.
Many customers worked at the train switching yard half a block away. The others, at nearby businesses in Cayce's then-vibrant business district. Since America still traveled and moved freight by train back then (pre-interstate and jet-age), this was a sizable clientele. Not much parking at the Cayce Lunch. Most patrons walked.
No giant TV screens in there. No TV at all. There was a jukebox. Other than that, entertainment was conversation. I remember the place always being abuzz.
If you face the State Street side (that was the front side), there was a small barbershop to the right. Can't recall if it was in another unit in that building or if it was in a separate building. I think it was Spires Barbershop; I think I remember that he may have been a magistrate back then.
Behind the Cayce Lunch, on Frink St., was a service station; must have been a Phillips 66, judging from the sign. It had a prime location, near the intersection of the two main thoroughfares in Cayce. That gas station was your last chance to fill up before you got out of town, and "out of town" was only a mile or two further.
An interesting note about the neighborhood, unrelated to the Cayce Lunch. Frink Street used to dead-end into State Street here. Where the quarry entrance is now, there used to be a huge white house. A Mrs. Lorick lived there, and old lady when I was a kid. When I knew her, she was a substitute teacher at the grammar school (then known as B.C. Number 2) out Frink St. (aka, the old Charleston Highway). I remember her organizing and umpiring baseball games during recess and after school. Later, I learned that Mrs. Lorick's house was well known in Cayce, almost a landmark, and that she had been Cayce's postmaster years earlier. How was I to know, when she was calling me "Out!" from behind the plate that she was a near-celebrity? To me, she was just an OLD lady who liked baseball.
BTW, at the time, State Street crossed the railroad tracks (lots of railroad tracks) and curved around to the right, past an old roundhouse and repair house, then left around some old ramshackle houses, then right again above the north side of the quarry to become Taylor Street. New State Road turned off to the left, along the west side of the quarry. There were modest shell homes along Taylor St. before it crossed the railroad tracks again and ran into Broadacres.
Unless you had a reason to go into the area between the Cayce Lunch and Broadacres, Frink Street was a better way to get out of town. Back when trains were still the nation's main mode of transport, you could sit for a l-o-n-g time, waiting for the tracks to clear. The trains would pull forward, then back up, then repeat. I learned they were "marshalling", moving on and off sidings to pick up and drop off cars. It was an interesting process for a curious kid to observe, but maddening when you were impatient to get somewhere across the tracks.
Anyone else recall this?
Sid
6 Feb 12 at 12:49 pm
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Sid, you remember when those four people got killed a couple blocks down Frink back in 1978 or so? can't remember the details....
tonkatoy
8 Feb 12 at 3:17 pm
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tonkatoy, that murder sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't recall the details.
Sid
8 Feb 12 at 5:02 pm
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The closest I ever got to the town of Cayce was the Cayce Methodist Church back in the early to late 60's. I grew up in Cayce, but over in the Church Hill Heights neighborhood near the AirPort when propeller airplanes were still the rage of modern air travel such as Delta, Eastern and some smaller less known ones. Across the other side of the road was Springdale..but the side of the road I was on was Cayce..WHY? I dont know, but so goes life.
Del
8 Feb 12 at 11:08 pm
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My Grandfather worked at the old Cayce Casket factory.
CJ
30 May 12 at 8:42 am
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My Uncle ran a trailer park down past broadacres at the other end of Frink. I remember when there was a kind of junk store at the building I used to love to rummage around in. I remember the Cayce Lunch too. When my Grandfather worked at the casket factory I remember my dad taking us to meet him for lunch when we were visiting. He also like the Anchor Restaurant that was on Meeting Street. He always had what he called 'Stew beef" over rice.
CJ
30 May 12 at 8:48 am
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In the early 1990's my dad bought Cayce Bait & Tackle and ran it up until around 2002-2003 when he leased it for a couple of years. He then took it back over and handed it to my sister and I to run. We sold in 2007 and that's when it became B&B.
Crystal
31 May 12 at 6:45 am
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Yeah, and then the new owners painted over the Lizard Woman. In my opinion, that was almost criminal. I've been to the new restaurant that opened there a week or so ago 2108 State. I hope they can make it.
badger
31 May 12 at 8:23 am
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B&B was named after the 2 men (brothers-in-law) who bought it and trasnformed it into the coolest bar & grill. Bubba Thomas was one of the owners and their family made it a really nice place, putting a lot of hard work into the interior and making it a nice place to be. Unfortunately, unless you are from the area or knew the Thomas', there wasn't a lot of room for advertising except word of mouth and with the economy of the past few years, it just didn't last. B&B is sorely missed. The comraderie was like no other!
B&B friend
2 Jun 12 at 6:20 am
You know, if you follow the 3 Rivers Greenway bike/walking path that starts at the Gervais St bridge to its terminus, this is where you will end up.