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Mission accomplished
As students at Friendship Junior College in 1961, David Williamson Jr. and W.T. “Dub” Massey joined other young men in an attempt to desegregate the lunch counter at McCrory’s Five & Dime in Rock Hill. The Friendship 9, as they came to be called, made civil rights history and pioneered the “jail, no bail” strategy of peaceful protest. Sixty years later, the dining room is a landmark on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail and back in business as Kounter, an innovative new restaurant where the restored counter and original stools are the best seats in the house.
Photo courtesy of Kounter
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Coming home to Rock Hill
“Kounter is to preserve the history, to educate people about what happened then and what’s happening now,” says chef Rob Masone, who grew up in Rock Hill and was surprised to find the old McCrory’s site for sale. The idea for the restaurant developed after Masone met with David Williamson Jr. of the Friendship 9. “I wanted his blessing to come into the space and change it but keep the history alive.”
Photo courtesy of Kounter
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Standing up for civil rights
When students from Friendship Junior College sat down at the segregated lunch counter and refused to leave until they were served, they were quickly arrested for trespassing. Nine students refused to pay the fine and served 30-day jail sentences, pioneering the “jail, no bail” tactic that swept peaceful protests across the nation. Others soon took up the cause and protested the injustice outside the McCrory’s Five & Dive on Main Street in downtown Rock Hill. In 2015, a South Carolina judge vacated the convictions of the Friendship 9.
The term counter is a double-entendre. The common noun refers to a long, flat-topped fixture in a building, across which business is conducted. The verb means to act in opposition to something. And, yet, for the Rock Hill restaurant, Kounter, the word stands for both in the continuing quest for racial equality.
Situated along Rock Hill’s Main Street, Kounter occupies the former McCrory’s Five & Dime, a local institution that opened in 1937, selling everything from shoes and clothing to housewares and penny candy, and complete with a popular lunch counter serving up hamburgers and ice cream sundaes.
That counter became a historic icon of the 1960s civil rights movement on Jan. 31, 1961, when students from Rock Hill’s Friendship Junior College sat down and refused to leave until they were served. Arrested for trespassing, all 10 were tried, convicted and sentenced to paying either a $100 fine or going to jail for 30 days. One paid the fine, while the other nine refused to pay bail and served out their sentence, becoming known as the Friendship 9—pioneers of the “Jail, No Bail” tactic that swept other peaceful protests across the nation.
“It was just something that we did,” reflects Friendship 9 member David Williamson Jr. “We tried to make a change. Progress has been made, but there is still a lot of work to be done as far as equality and justice. At least now you can get inside the door and have a conversation.”
Joyce Massey, wife of Friendship 9 member W.T. “Dub” Massey, agrees. “I hope people grasp what the Friendship 9 did. It was a real sacrifice,” she says. “To think that he spent time in jail so that we could sit down and have a hamburger.”
Today, the surviving members of the Friendship 9, along with their friends, families and neighbors, can have more than a hamburger at the same pink Formica counter recognized by a historic marker and holding a place of honor on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. The building that housed the original McCrory’s has reopened as Kounter and is serving up food—and history—that makes the Friendship 9 and many others proud.
Chef Rob Masone, a Rock Hill native who owns restaurants, food trucks and catering businesses in Florida and North Carolina, wanted to come back home and was surprised to find the old McCrory’s site—which he remembers passing by every Sunday on his way to church—was available. When he met with Williamson, the idea of Kounter came to life.
“I didn’t really have a vision until I sat down with Mr. Williamson and had a conversation,” remembers Masone. “I wanted his blessing to come into the space and change it but keep the history alive.”
The first step was the counter. The original had been covered with a mahogany bar years earlier. Masone recalls the day he ripped off the façade and exposed the old, dusty pink laminate top. “Mr. Williamson sat there, not having seen it for almost 60 years, and I watched him subconsciously rub the counter while we were talking,” says Masone. “I knew that I had to figure out a way to bring it back to life.”
Leaving the original coffee ring stains and nail holes, the craftsmen Masone hired applied a special epoxy that brought the counter back to its original gleam. The counter’s footrail and stool pedestals and seats are also original, although they have been restuffed and reupholstered.
“Kounter is to preserve the history, to educate people about what happened then and what’s happening now,” says Masone.
The restaurant serves up the whimsical and funky food that Masone has become known for. The menu boasts creative dishes that are fun to eat and share, like chicken + waffle sushi, pulled pork, Thai shrimp or salmon belly bao tacos, cake stand sliders and SpaghettiOs with lamb meatballs. Those seated at the historic counter can even watch the innovative cuisine come to life before their eyes, thanks to the open kitchen concept.
“The counter chairs are the hottest seats in the restaurant,” says Masone. “People sit there and get a taste of the past and a taste of the future.”
For Williamson and the Massey family, Kounter is an exciting new chapter in the story of the Friendship 9.
“I never expected anything like this,” says Williamson. “I hope that people sit down at that counter and are impacted by the change that was made there.”
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Get There
Kounter is located at 135 E. Main Street, Suite 101, in downtown Rock Hill.
Hours: Tuesday–Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday–Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed on Monday.
Contact: (803) 328-7333; kounterdining.com.
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Related stories
South Carolina’s Civil Rights Trail—The old McCrory’s Five & Dime is one of eight South Carolina sites on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail.
The Green Book of South Carolina—Use this handy online travel guide to map and explore the expanding roster of African American heritage and culture sites across the state
History in black and white—See the 1960s civil rights movement through the images of Orangeburg photographer Cecil Williams.