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Brookhaven, Mississippi: Coffee Pot Topped Building

An oversized percolator sits on the roof of a currently empty building, supposedly the first fast food cafe in the South. Built in the 1920s, the distinctive cafe was sold to a 1930s bootlegger who was later killed in a head-on collision with one of his drunken customers.

Address:
S. 1st St. NE, Brookhaven, MS
Directions:
South edge of town, next to the water tower, at the corner of S. 1st St. NE/Hwy 583 and Manson St.
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Historical marker.

Coffee Pot Topped Building

A historical marker was added to this site in 2016. It informs us that Eddie Hinnant played a piano on the roof when he tried to break his piano-playing record of 110 continuous hours -- but the sign doesn't say if he succeeded! The marker also clarifies, once and for all, that, yes, this building is a local landmark because there is a coffee pot on top. Who knew?

[Elliot Wilson, 12/15/2016]

Wonder how much coffee Eddie drank to keep awake.

Coffee pot on roof.

Coffee Pot Topped Building

So kitchen. Love it.

[ET, 04/25/2014]

Big coffee pot.

Coffee Pot Topped Restaurant

This locally well-known former restaurant from the 1920s, which is still standing but currently vacant, has a coffee pot on its roof. One of the local residents I talked to said that they remembered it also doubling as the Greyhound bus depot at one time. According to the Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce, the Coffee Pot restaurant was built by J. J. Carruth, operated by his sons Lester and Bubba, and was the first fast food restaurant in the South.

[Bobby Tedford, 12/13/2012]

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In the region:
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