Would You Order Livermush at a Classic Family Diner?

by Ray Linville

Want to step back in time and explore early food traditions of our state? Then stop at a family-owned diner that has been in business for more than 50 years. When you do, expect to find items on the menu that link back to days long ago.

Ham, bacon, and sausage are popular at breakfast but don’t overlook livermush on the menu board. — Ham, bacon, and sausage are popular at breakfast but don’t
overlook livermush on the menu board.

The menu boards immediately caught my attention when I entered The Hub, a place popular for breakfast and lunch in Anson County. Located about 50 miles east of Charlotte on busy U.S. 74 that bypasses the downtown heart of Wadesboro, The Hub has been in business since 1961, according to Scott Drye, who began working in the diner when he was 11 and is the son of the owner. He said his father took over the diner in 1969 and has been operating it ever since.

**Scott Drye cuts a slice from a loaf of livermush as he prepares to make my sandwich.**

When I saw livermush on the menu boards for both breakfast and lunch, I knew that I had to order it when I arrived for lunch. I wanted to recall its once important role for many families in this state. During the Great Depression, a family wanting to put protein on the table could buy a block of livermush for about 10 cents a pound – definitely low cost for a source so high in protein – and the popularity of livermush in the western counties stretches back to the Civil War. It was created out of “necessity and hardship,” as explained in Congress in 1993 by Rep. Charles H. Taylor, who emphasized its importance in our foodways as the inaugural N.C. festival to celebrate livermush was being planned.

**A livermush sandwich for lunch at The Hub definitely sustains you all afternoon.**

I don’t remember seeing livermush before on a menu, although I do remember seeing it on my family’s table when I was growing up (and trying discretely to avoid it). Even if someone can accept a food with “mush” as part of its name, interest in livermush by the inexperienced declines quickly when they when they learn that pig liver and head parts with cornmeal are the primary ingredients.

**Meats and vegetable daily are ready for serving at the cafeteria-style area.**

By law, at least 30 percent of livermush has to be pig liver. Perhaps that’s the reason I was the only one at The Hub with livermush on my plate. Most others were ordering a meat plus one, two, or three sides from the cafeteria-style counter. The meats usually include fried chicken, country-style steak, and fried fish. The vegetable choices include green beans, pintos, corn, greens, field peas, slaw, potato salad, and rice. A lunch of a meat and three vegetables is $6.75 – definitely reasonable (although my livermush sandwich was only $2.25).

**A steady stream of customers is common daily at The Hub.**

Breakfast at The Hub begins at 5:30 a.m., and lunch ends at 2 p.m. Well before noon, cars line both sides of the building and a steady stream of repeat customers are inside waiting to order. With its home-style cooking, The Hub is definitely popular with the locals, particularly those who break up the workday by stopping for lunch. “I like the home cooking here. We stop at least once a week, sometimes a lot more than that,” says T.C. Murdock, who is a regular with other co-workers at the county rescue squad.

**T.C. Murdock (left) and Colton Sutton are regulars at The Hub and stop for lunch when their duties with Anson County Rescue Squad permit.**

The customers of The Hub also include families and travelers passing through Anson County. Much like its early days when founded in 1783 as the county seat, Wadesboro has flourished as a friendly place for anyone traversing the south-central Piedmont and seeking rest and nourishment. As trips by car became more common, Wadesboro increasingly served as a stop for families traveling to or from the N.C. and S.C. beaches and coastal areas, and The Hub still remains a favorite place. “About 90 percent of the travelers who stop have been here before,” says Drye, who often takes a quick break from the grill to greet and chat with long-standing customers.

**The grill at The Hub stays busy as it serves customers who don’t order from the choices at the cafeteria-style area.**

The Hub in Wadesboro, a town of fewer than 6,000 residents, is just the place to harken back to “the old days” – and a place where livermush is always on the menu. Although The Hub is almost lost today among other businesses that have sprouted up along this high-speed and densely traveled highway, it still stand out for those in the know. Partly cafeteria-style and partly lunch counter, The Hub belongs in an earlier decade, and the menu also fits this era.

**Vehicles start parking early for lunch at The Hub.**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ray Linville writes and lectures on regional culture, including foodways and folklife. He has taught in the N.C. Community College System as a professor of English and humanities and served on the board of the N.C. Folklore Society. Read more about Ray’s ramblings at his blog: Sights, Sounds and Tastes of the American South.