410 GOURMET STRIP along Pike St. and, for the years 1990–2003, at 25 W. Seventh St. The organization developed and owns the Goodwill Village Apartments for the handicapped along Banklick St. in Covington and has a store along Taylor Mill Rd. in Independence. In Boone Co., Goodwill has a facility along Tanner’s Ln. In Campbell Co., after being located for years at Fifth and York Sts. in Newport, the organization now has a store along Donnermeyer Dr. in Bellevue. In Mason Co., Goodwill operates a store at 505 Market Place Drive in Maysville. “Covington to Have New Goodwill Shops,” KTS, April 1, 1955, 1A. “Goodwill Expands,” KTS, July 20, 1956, 4A. “Goodwill Relocating Its Covington Store,” KE, March 28, 2003, B2. “Goodwill Strengthening N. Kentucky Presence: Tanners Lane Store 12,000 Square Feet,” KP, March 27, 1993, 11K. “Invalid Needs ‘Job Therapy,’ ” KP, November 19, 1969, 1K. Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries. www.cincinnati goodwill.org (accessed October 14, 2006). “Record Turnout Greet Goodwill Store’s Opening in New Location,” vertical fi le, Kentucky Gateway Museum, Maysville, Ky.
Gus Sanzere’s Golden Goose, 1504 Dixie Hwy., originally known for its Italian food and now the home of the Szechuan Gardens. Chappie’s Tavern, 1560 Dixie Hwy., later renamed Tom and Jerry’s and now demolished. Town and Country Restaurant, 1622 Dixie Hwy., opened in 1936 as the Blue Star Tavern, operated by the Wooten family; now the home of Chuck McHale’s The Gardens of Park Hills. Old Mill Grill, on the northeast corner of Dixie Hwy. and St. James Ave., built for the tourist trade about 1930 or before, with distinctive roadside architecture featuring an operating windmill. Gasoline pumps stood outside, and there was also a restaurant offering chicken and steak dinners.
George Palmer
GOURMET STRIP. This was the name given to a string of restaurants, nightclubs, and taverns stretching along the Dixie Highway (U.S. 25/42), from Covington to Florence, Ky. The Gourmet Strip was a popu lar destination for Cincinnatians, Northern Kentuckians, and travelers, particularly from the 1930s through the 1970s. Dining varied from fine cuisine to tavern food to the new fastfood drive-ins of the 1940s and 1950s. A number of entertainment spots featured illegal gambling, such as bookmaking, slot machines, and gaming tables. The end of gambling in Kenton Co. in the 1950s, the opening of I-75 in 1963—diverting interstate travelers—and various fires brought an end to the Gourmet Strip, and only a few buildings remain. Some of the prominent restaurants included these, listed by city. Park Hills Hahn Hotel, 1424 Dixie Hwy., a 19th-century inn and tavern where drovers of livestock stopped (see Meatpacking). Marshall’s, 1450 Dixie Hwy., which featured a dining room, a cocktail lounge, and party rooms. Colonial Bake Shop, 1470 Dixie Hwy., open 24 hours daily, offering coffee and baked goods to travelers. Lamplighters Club of Nick Behle, 1491 Dixie Hwy., a late-night gathering spot principally for musicians and workers from the restaurants and clubs along the strip. White Horse Tavern, 1501 Dixie Hwy., opened in 1936 and operated by Ben S. Castleman; destroyed by fire on January 26, 1972. Castleman reopened the restaurant across the street in the old Golden Goose, closing it in September 1972. In 1977 he and other investors opened a new White Horse at 3041 Dixie Hwy. in Edgewood, but it closed in 1978.
Oelsner’s Colonial Tavern, Lookout Heights.
Lookout House Supper Club.
Fort Wright (including old Lookout Heights) Jerry’s Restaurant, 1663 Dixie Hwy., featuring J-boy hamburgers. It was one of the early drivein restaurants along the strip. Later it became Clyde’s Steak House, and then Cassidy’s; the building was demolished in 2006. Lookout House, 1721 Dixie Hwy., a posh nightclub featuring Hollywood entertainers that was destroyed by fire on August 14, 1973. Oelsner’s Colonial Tavern, 1730 Dixie Hwy., opened in March 1937 and operated by three brothers, Russell, Richard, and Charles Oelsner. It was a favorite gathering place for Cincinnati Reds baseball players during the 1930s and 1940s. The tavern was demolished and a Skyline Chili stands on the site.