Come On Inn

There are numerous passing references to restaurants, cabins, guest homes, and clubs that were opened in St. Andrew’s Parish in the early 1900s. Some establishments have been easily researched as family members have great personal archives. Others are known at this point only because of oral histories, bits of stories, or advertisements in the News & Courier, The Evening Post, The Pelican – the annual of St. Andrew’s Parish High School, The St. Andrew’s Parish Exchange Club brochures, or miscellaneous publications of one sort or another.
One such establishment called “Come On Inn” crops up with regularity and most recently discovered in a description on a plat of St. Andrews Terrace dated May of 1936.
During an interview with Nell Flood Brown in August of 2011, she described the Come On Inn as a roadhouse located approximately at the end of Betsy Road. Nell Flood Brown’s father, Augustus (Gus) MacDonald Flood, was the overseer for Joe Harrison’s farm that would later become Harrison Acres. The family lived at a home located at the end of Betsy Road on the water and could hear the “entertainment” coming from the Come On Inn at their home.
Curiosity about this establishment forced a search of the News & Courier and Evening Post archives that produced 139 articles or ads containing a reference to the Come On Inn. In those 139 clips were threads of stories that could be woven into quite an urban legend. The Come On Inn had a wide variety of clientele from the local Boy Scouts to the Professional Women’s Club, from wedding receptions to luncheons for local dignitaries, from card clubs to clientele that would maintain such a “nuisance” that the owners would be charged and have to appear before the local magistrate.
The earliest reference appears to be in the May 25, 1923 edition of the Evening Post. The clip indicates the Council of Catholic Women met on a Monday. In March of 1926 a group of scouts took off on “The Big Hike” to an old fort in the St. Andrew’s Parish area and went to the Come On Inn for water. This article only leads to more questions – like where was the fort?
An ad in the May 27, 1935 edition of The Evening Post announced the opening of Come On Inn under new management: Barney Hill (formerly of Occidental Grill) and G.F. King (formerly of Francis Marion Coffee Shop). Private dining rooms were advertised, as were Chicken Dinners for 75 cents and Steak Dinners for 75 cents. Fast forward to January 5, 1946 and the ad described dinner (serving the finest in steaks, chicken and seafood with you favorite beverage and homemade pies) and dancing with the “Templeton” Trio.
An absolute address or definitive location for the Come On Inn has not been established, but it is fun to speculate that it was in the vicinity of the Early Bird Diner, a modern day establishment that draws quite the crowd for lunch and dinner.
Restaurant stories? Contact Donna Jacobs at westashleybook@gmail.com.