Who can tell me anything about this sad cafe—which is apparently now home to a salvage yard and a rather…um, interesting used car business—along Highway 136 between Macomb and Carthage?
I’ve driven past it for years and finally stopped to take a picture on Labor Day Weekend. I was greeted by the property owner who, when I asked how long the cafe had been closed, said, “…’bout 10 years.” I beg to differ, however.
What’s the real story of the Midway Cafe?
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Tags: abandoned, advertising, businesses, cafe, Colchester, endangered, Illinois, local_history, old ad, pics, sign, vintage
I have wondered the same thing many times.
Thanks, Fred; I’m glad to know some one else has been curious about the place! I think we both need to ask our parents! (?)
I remember when it was open, 1960′s, also there was another cafe in the bottoms, halfway between Carthage and Colchester. I think there was a reference to the first one in Hallwas’s Bootlegger. Apparently there was a time when you didn’t dare stray too far on the prairie without possibility of food and gas, pun intended.