City Directories and History: Mike McGarity posted on FB in Sept. 2011 – “The Shamrock Grill was the best-kept secret on South Cherry Road (then called York Ave.) It was on the corner of Main St., catty-cornered to the Gas Company. My grandparents Mr. and Mrs. J.G. Moses owned this grill/grocery/gas station from about 1958 until it closed down in 1974. My first job was working for them when I was 14 years old. Their burgers, hot dogs, and breakfast menu rivaled any of the better known grills in town.
1960-1974 – The Shamrock Grill
The Northwest corner of South York Avenue (now South Cherry Road) and West Main Street was occupied by a large brick store building, approximately 50 ft. x 100 ft., with 2 gasoline pump islands – one on the corner and the other alongside the building parallel to West Main Street. The previous tenants are unknown at this time, but it was apparent a store had been in business for some time in this location. It had been a true Jim Crow establishment before my grandparents occupied it, as there was a front lunch counter marked “White Only” and a second lunch counter in the rear marked “Colored Only”. (One of the first things my grandfather did was to take down those signs).
The owner of the property at that time leased the building and lands to my grandparents, James George (Jimmy) Moses and his wife Lillian Hellams Moses in December of 1960. They moved their grill/dry goods business from Tommy’s Place at 201 South Trade Street to this larger establishment and opened for business just before Christmas of 1960. The name they chose for the business was “The Shamrock Grill”.
In this large establishment, Mr. and Mrs. Moses sold all types of dry goods, served as a neighborhood grocery, and had two counters for food service and a grill. At different times during the fourteen years, they were also considered a local bar and grill as they sold beer and wine for on and off-premises consumption. They pumped a great deal of Rock Hill’s gasoline at the two pump islands, being one of two stations between Rock Hill and York at that time. I can remember the station having Atlantic Richfield gas, Texaco, BP, and even Shell gasoline. It changed several times during the 14 year period. Another of their large sellers was bag coal – at the back of the lot, there were two old school busses that were used to store and sell the bag coal to customers.
The Shamrock served a local clientele from the Northwest side of Rock Hill – the Boyd Hill Community and others in the few remaining residential areas at the end of West Main Street. In the 1960’s, it was one place to go after high school football games, as they stayed open late and served food and drink until the early hours. At times, it could get a little rough, but my grandfather ran a tight ship, and rarely was there any trouble to speak of.
I worked for my grandparents from the time I was 14 until they closed the business. I pumped gas, slung hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, and sold groceries and dry goods, candy, cookies ice cream and cold, cold drinks. It was a wonderful learning experience for a young man, and one I will always treasure. A big cross-section of Rock Hill passed through the doors of The Shamrock – politicians and police, high school kids and drunks, other local merchants and folks down on their luck. One thing I can truly say is that my grandparents would always help anyone in need – even if they didn’t have the money to spend. In later years, after they both passed on, I found among their papers several small books where my grandparents had sold items on credit to local people and had never been paid. It amounted to over eight thousand dollars. True to form, my grandparents never mentioned the outstanding debts, and many of the names listed in their credit books were only nicknames of individuals.
Rock Hill’s growth in the mid 1970’s reached out again to touch my grandparents business. West Main Street was now due to be widened to four lanes to accommodate traffic going out to the new Northwestern High School area and the subdivisions springing up along the route. They stood to lose a good portion of the property, and the building was too close to the new right of way and would have to be demolished. Due to poor health and advancing years, J.G. and Lillian Moses reluctantly decided not to endure the expense and hassle of rebuilding the store, even though the owner of the property offered it to my grandfather at a very good price. They retired in 1974 and closed The Shamrock Grill. With the closing of The Shamrock, Rock Hill lost one of its few remaining neighborhood groceries and “greasy spoon” restaurants. This photo of Mr. and Mrs. Moses was taken during the last month of operation.
The building and property at 348 South York Avenue was sold by the owner after my grandparents closed the business. The building was razed in 1977 and is now occupied by a modern convenience store with no gasoline service.
Written and submitted to R&R by Michael McGarity, 5/28/14
The Rock Hill Record reported on Dec. 28, 1908 – “The Poag Real Estate Co., is offering for development lots on Sanders Street, Hovis Street and Lock Streets. The proposed new road from Rock Hill to Yorkville will be extended from West Main Street and will pass near this property. It is close to Wymojo Mills, Syleecau Manufacturing Co., the Brick Yard Plant and Harris Manufacturing Company. “
The Herald reported on June 11, 1940 – “Work will be completed soon on the new Municipal Stadium next to the Fair Grounds. Most of the funding came from the WPA. The facility should be completed in time for a baseball tournament in August and football games in the fall. A supplemental grant will be paid for completing the fencing, wooden stands, and the concrete stands.”
On Aug. 20, 1940 the paper reported – “The first event to be held in the new Municipal Stadium was the American Legion Southeastern Junior Baseball Tournament.”
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