Round Robin Photo Challenge --- The Old Place

I recently learned about the Round Robin Photo Challenge, a twice monthly photo meme where challenge topics are chosen from a pool of suggestions contributed by the challenge participants. I found the topics to be exciting and decided to participate. This weeks challenge is to post a photo of someplace that's been around 50 years or more.

I have chosen as my challenge the Quonset Hut. I supose the Quonset Hut could be considered a thing instead of a place. But, since most of the ones still around actually have an address I think that justifies calling them a place. I became attracted to Quonset Huts many years ago after reading an article on how the buildings were ingeniously converted into all types of uses after WW-ll . I began to notice one or two everywhere I traveled. Then my parents moved their business into a building on Old Route 66 and directly across the street sat two Quonset Huts. Before long I had located two more in the area on that same famous old road. That was over thirty years ago and until recently all of them contained a thriving business. Sadly, only one is still going strong today.

This hut was used as a restaurant for as long as anyone can remember. It was the first to close up shop and is now for sale. Back when I was in the restaurant business my place was just down the road a short way and this was my biggest competitor for the early morning breakfast business. I still think I made the better biscuits and gravy though.


These are the two that sit across the street from my mother. The owner died a few weeks ago, but, he lived in the smaller hut for over fifty years. Until his retirement he operated a machine shop out of the larger hut.



The only hut still in operation is Phil's Bar-b-Que. Phil added the brick fire pit and opened his restaurant 26 years ago. Before that it had contained a auto repair shop and another restaurant. It has been in continuous operation for sixty years.

Per Wikipedia: A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanised iron having a semicircular cross section. The design was based on the Nissen hut developed by the British during World War I. The name comes from their site of first manufacture, Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

In 1941 the United States Navy needed an all-purpose, lightweight building that could be shipped anywhere and assembled without skilled labor. The George A. Fuller construction company was selected to manufacture them. The first was produced within 60 days of contract award.

Between 150,000-170,000 Quonset huts were manufactured during World War II. After the war, the U.S. military sold the surplus Quonset huts to the public for $1,000 each. Many are still standing throughout the United States, primarily used for commercial buildings. Visit http://www.quonsethuts.org for more information on Qunset Huts.

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