What Used to Be on South Frederica Street in Owensboro

In a recent conversation, the top of Frederica Street businesses came up. Specifically, we were talking about which ones used to be on Frederica between Scherm Road and Tamarack Road.

OWENSBORO'S FREDERICA STREET HARDLY LOOKS THE SAME

And it's not easy. There has been so much change in that part of town that when I come up with ANYTHING that used to be there, I'm pretty proud of myself. It's not like Highway 54 where very little used to be before it exploded.

When I look out the front window of this building, which faces north, I see Subway and Sonic signs. There's also a Fifth Third Bank. What I can't see from here is the Hardee's sign, but I'm pretty sure it's the oldest business in that area around Legion Boulevard. I believe there was a Sambo's there, but that company went bankrupt more than 40 years ago, so I may not be remembering it correctly.

JUDY'S HOMESTYLE HAMBURGERS

I do know there was a Judy's Homestyle Hamburgers right next to Davis Funeral Home. It's where Dunkin' Donuts is now located.

Even when I was a kid, I remember thinking it looked like a rip-off of Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers. Apparently, I wasn't alone; Wendy's sued Judy's in the late 80s. From that lawsuit:

Judy's Foods, originally formed by General Care Corporation and later sold to the Hospital Corporation of America, was a franchise operation selling fast food. When it first began selling franchises, Judy's Foods was illegally appropriating the format of Wendy's International. In 1979, the franchisees in this action signed a Prospective Licensing Agreement, creating the option for them to own and operate two restaurants in Alabama. The contract specified that Tennessee law would apply to its interpretation. At this time, Judy's Foods knew that it would have to change its format to avoid litigation by Wendy's, but did not tell the franchisees about this or any other problems relating to the operation of the franchises.

Thus...no more Judy's. But there IS this old radio commercial from the defunct hamburger chain:

BURGER CHEF AND JERRY'S

There was also a time in the past when we had to say goodbye to Burger Chef. Remember Burger Chef? There was one on Frederica and one on Parrish Avenue.

Both are obviously long gone. And I feel like Burger Chef disappeared SO long ago, that it was replaced by a business--Stoneland Arcade--that's ALSO been gone a very long time.

Unless I'm remembering wrong, Stoneland went INTO the old Burger Chef building. I spent a lot of quarters there when I was a teenager.

You know, as I write this, it occurs to me that the changes over the decades have been WHOLESALE. I'm not sure ANYTHING that's on this stretch of Frederica was there 30, 40, or 50 years ago.

I'm thinking about Jerry's. Did you just love Jerry's or what? My big memory--aside from their awesome spaghetti--was visiting on Sunday nights after church and then rushing home so I could get to bed. It WAS a school night, after all.

SOUTH FREDERICA RESTAURANTS THAT ARE GONE OR HAVE MOVED

Honestly, it seems like RESTAURANTS are the businesses I'm remembering most. While we do have a Sonic on Frederica in 2023, the one we USED to have was farther south on Frederica back in the day...like, when I was in high school.

I'm also remembering Kenny Rogers Roasters, a Kentucky Fried Chicken (before it became known simply as KFC) at the end of a strip mall, and Lic's Ice Cream. At least I THINK there was a Lic's location on Frederica way back when.

I tried to reference this old puzzle map I featured recently, but, as you can see, it wasn't any help.

So what am I missing? Plenty, I'm sure, and it's very difficult to find what I'm looking for via Google searches.

What about you? What do you remember on South Frederica between Scherm and Tamarack that's no longer there?

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