A Criminal Corner...But Not How You Think

A Criminal Corner   >

Forest Theater

Piece of London

Computer Museum

Bottomless Stairs

Old East

McCorkle Place

Chapel Hill Walking

Good Walls

Due to its name, you might think that Crook's Corner Café & Bar, at the intersection of Franklin St. and Merritt Mill Rd. in Carrboro, was named for some kind of criminal element that used to frequent the site. However, you would be only half-right; something criminal occurred there, but it involved a person named Crook.

Ms. Rachel Crook ran a fish market at the location in the late 1940s. In 1951, she was murdered in the doorway of the building, a crime that was never solved. After years of being vacant, the location became a taxi stand, a pool hall, and finally abandoned. In 1978 the building was renovated and remodeled as a restaurant, and the current owners took over in 1982, where it now serves Southern Cuisine [26] [27].