ROCK HILL, S.C. — A new downtown Rock Hill restaurant is working to preserve the legacy of a Civil Rights sit-in protest.
Executive Chef and Owner Rob Masone opened Kounter amid the pandemic in December 2020. The restaurant occupies the former space where McCrory’s Five & Dime was located.
In January 1961, it was the site where the group now known as the “Friendship 9” held a peaceful sit-in protest at the segregated lunch counter, drawing attention to the cause of integration.
"At the time, the lunch counter was the biggest thing publicly that, you know, automatically you knew you weren't allowed there, but if you went there, you could draw attention to all these other problems that we had,” said David Williamson, Jr., a member of the Friendship 9.
A group of 10 young men, nine of them students at Friendship College, entered McCrory’s Five & Dime on Jan. 31, 1961, and sat at the counter.
The men were arrested and taken to jail. Nine of them did not accept bail and had to serve 30-day sentences.
According to City of Rock Hill history shard by the Freedom Walkway, “By doing so, they would not only break the cycle of continually paying money into an unfair legal system but also bring greater attention to the segregated nature of lunch counters and other public places in Rock Hill and elsewhere."
"It really wasn't about the eating part,” said Williamson. “It was more about the change that needed to be made."
Masone, who grew up in Rock Hill, always wanted to open a restaurant concept in the city and settled on the former McCrory’s Five & Dime space that had since changed hands several times over the years.
However, the original pink Formica countertop remained underneath it all.
Masone met with Williamson during the demo phase of construction, realizing the significance of keeping the original countertop, stools, and footrest.
"He [Williamson] was just rubbing it [the countertop],” said Masone. “He would talk to me, and he would look down. He was just rubbing his hand like this, and at that point, I knew that we just really had to showcase this counter cause I saw the emotion in his face. I think it was subconscious."
Masone said a special laminate process was used on the counter to preserve it. The quirks of the coffee stains and the nails hammered in the countertop remain for all to see.
"It's been here, but it's never been displayed, and it's never been the focal point,” said Masone. “I mean, Lord, we named the restaurant Kounter."
Now, one of the original seats from the place that refused to serve Williamson in 1961 bears his name.
Masone said Kounter offers an interactive dining experience at the counter for anyone who sits there. The restaurant menu features items such as smoking tuna poke, lobster gnocchi, and seared scallops. Not on the menu, but always served with every dish: a side of history.
"If you don't know your history, history's going to repeat itself," said Williamson.
Masone added, "I've witnessed multiple grown men just in tears about what happened here and where they're sitting, and they just become really you know entangled in it. And that's beautiful to watch."
The memories and names of the Friendship 9 are etched into the walls of the restaurant with Kounter welcoming everyone to take a seat.
"I just want people to know that this is a place for everybody,” said Masone.
The names of the 10 protesters who sat down at McCrory’s counter on Jan. 31, 1961 were:
- Willie Edward McLeod
- James Frank Wells
- Clarence Henry Graham
- Thomas Walter Gaither
- David “Scoop” Williamson
- Robert Lewis McCullough
- Mack Cartier Workman
- Willie Thomas “Dub” Massey, John Alexander Gaines, and Charles Edward Taylor.
To learn more about the Friendship 9, click here.
Contact Kendall Morris at kmorris2@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.