A popular Montgomery family, the Greens, built the Green
Lantern in the early-thirties. They were responsible for placing the handsome
lantern and called it “Green’s Lantern.” There were several cabins in the back
that could be rented out.
Several families owned it over the years. The Walton Hill
Estate came into possession of the building and the corner land located at Fisk
and McGehee Roads. In 1945, Dewey Edward Davis leased the Green Lantern from
the Walton Hill Estate for his sister-in-law, Mary, to operate. She did so for
many years.
In 1968, the Hill Estate decided to tear down the Green
Lantern and build a branch bank, the Green Lantern Branch of the Union Bank and
Trust. At that point, the old lantern was taken off the front of the building,
was bronzed, and it now hangs in the pylon beside the present bank. The lantern
still shines green at night with green bulbs being replaced often as when it
was hanging on the front of the old building. Regions Bank now owns the
building and it is still known as the Green Lantern Branch. The lantern is
still there.
On the floor of the restaurant were glass moons that had
been there for more than thirty years. There was one full moon and three
crescents, which had colored light bulbs. Some say the moons “blinked.” The
Montgomery County Historical Society now has the full moon. – This info was
taken from the June 2011 issue of the Herald, the quarterly newsletter that
comes free with a membership in the Montgomery County Historical Society. There
are great stories and photos with every issue! Please support MCHS by becoming
a member today!
I am puzzled by statement, "In 1968, the Hill Estate .....the Green Lantern" I did not move to Montgomery area until 1976. I went to a production by Green Lantern after I moved to town. So I wonder, did the theatre move to another location?
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ReplyDeleteThe Green Lantern was never a theater.
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ReplyDeleteHi. My husband fondly remembers dining at the Green Lantern Steakhouse with his father. The special occasion wrapping up each G.W. Carver high school football season. He fondly remembers those times and the delicious large steaks and huge biscuits. He wonders if the tear down noted as 1968 was a typo. He said his last visit there was 1978.
ReplyDeleteThe "original" Green Lantern Restaurant was on the north side of McGehee Rd. just west of the Carter Hill Rd intersection with Fisk Rd. where Region Bank (the Green Lantern Branch) is now.
Deleteit was a mile of two outside the city. It's cabins served as a "no-tell motel". There was a shooting in the front gravel parking lot. There were 2 rival "gangs" or "clubs" that had a show down.
ReplyDeleteBest cheese biscuits and it was BYOB . You just had to buy your set ups.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely the best cheese biscuits I've ever had. I took my visiting Mother-In-Law there circa 1975, while my wife was in the hospital. She raved about those biscuits for many years.
ReplyDeleteMy greatgrandmother Gladys Morris was the originator of those cheese biscuits. I miss her so!
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