The Old South Restaurant, originally opened on April 4, 1947, burned early the morning of June 6. The longstanding edifice, a pre-fabricated custom building erected over six days, served Russellville and its customers for decades, much of that 24 hours a day, offering diner breakfasts, Kansas City style steaks, fried chicken, and slices of pie. It was featured May 28 in the "River Valley Eats" column in this newspaper.
In 1998, The Old South was added to the National Register of Historic Places, both for its standing as the last William Stell-designed Old South prototype restaurant and for its association as a place favored by rock singer Elvis Presley, who would make frequent stops on his travels through the area.
The restaurant fell on hard times in the early 21st century but was brought back thanks to community support, including a town-wide yard sale to raise funds to pay taxes after the restaurant was closed for non-payment. Dale and Zach Summit purchased the restaurant recently and had cleaned and restored much of the original beauty while managing to keep its menu at reasonable prices.
Many of the original menu items, such as the steaks and the famed Old South Restaurant salad dressing, were still being served. Other additions, such as Bernell Austin-style plank-cut fried pickles and the state favorite, possum pie, had helped bolster the depth of that menu.
There's no word yet on whether the Summits will choose to rebuild. They say on Facebook: "We will miss seeing you guys every day and serving our community! We will keep you posted on what's happening as we find out!"