Smithfield has some wonderful eateries, several of which are on Main Street, but there will never be another Twins Ole Town Inn, known lovingly as simply “The Twins” by a couple of generations of its patrons.

The Twins closed its doors in January 2008 after a run of more than four decades, the closure a natural byproduct of the passing years. One of the owners, Alice Whitley, had died, and her twin sister, Martha, who is now also deceased, was simply tired of the daily grind.

I’ll never forget the last week at the Twins. It was a cross between a family reunion and a family wake as regulars made their final visit, paying respect to a beloved institution. 

Those favoring the weekly salt herring special came on Wednesday, when the delicious fried filets were served with some of the best cornbread imaginable.

Thursday drew the biggest crowd. That was chicken-and-dumpling day, and the Twins chicken and dumplings were mouth-watering. They were served with a generous helping of black-eyed peas and stewed tomatoes. Oh, my.

But for a group of town businessmen, every morning was a Twins morning, and they were there Monday through Friday that week, ordering coffee and a couple of biscuits and sharing whatever news (we never called it gossip) that was afoot that day.

When the men left, usually about 8:30, the town’s matriarchs moved in and spent the next hour or two prior to lunch.

You can’t open a tradition like the Twins. It can only develop with time, and the twins who owned the Twins did just that.

Martha and Alice were still in high school when they began working for Carie Fulgham, the owner of Carie’s Diner, located in a rather dilapidated frame building where the Ben Franklin statue sits today. Their jobs were part of their Distributive Education curriculum, and when they graduated in 1964, they just kept working for Carie. (Actually, the cafe preceded Ms. Fulgham. It had been founded by Calvin Jordan, who subsequently opened a new restaurant on what is now South Church Street.)

In 1967, age caught up with Carie and she retired, selling the cafe to the twins. The diner was popular, and the Twins continued its tradition of low-cost home-cooked meals. 

The business under their leadership was going strong when, in September 1974, a kitchen fire shut the restaurant down. The twins were leasing the space from former Smithfield Times Publisher Jesse Scott, who owned the old building at the time. The fire ended the cafe’s time in that old building and eventually led to the demolition of the rambling old structure.

From then on, the Whitleys would be tenants of the town of Smithfield.

The town was quite different in those days. Main Street was struggling. Businesses were leaving downtown or simply closing, and the Town Council wanted to do everything reasonably possible to try and keep the street intact, to keep the few surviving businesses like the Twins, The Smithfield Times and the remaining retail stores where they were. 

Smithfield had recently purchased the matching brick buildings that face Main Street on either side of Hayden’s Lane and one of them — now part of the Smithfield Gourmet Bakery — seemed like a logical home for the Twins.

The town had the building modified to include a tiny kitchen and restrooms, gave Martha and Alice a favorable lease, and the Twins reopened as the Twins Ole Town Inn.

Martha and Alice were joined by their mother, who made mouth-watering desserts, and a third sister Dean Greer, who kept the food moving to tables. That team built a Main Street legend, and it should be noted that had it not been for the Town Council’s desire to keep tradition alive on Main Street, it would not have happened.

 

Twins tales

The Twins was legendary for more than the food. Back in the late 1970s, for example, the postmaster decided that a sycamore tree at the corner of the Post Office lot should be removed because of the leaves and branches it shed each year.

One of the ladies meeting for morning coffee saw a sawyer up in the tree cutting off limbs, reported it to her fellow coffee drinkers, and a protest was immediately launched. Before the morning had ended, a circuit court judge was called to intervene. He in turn called the Norfolk postmaster and urged restraint. The tree was saved and stood for another 30 years.

Then, there was the salt herring tale that Times reporter Dave Lewis overheard.

The Twins, as noted, served salt herring every Wednesday. One day, the fish were the menu, as always, listed as “salt hearn,” the local pronunciation. A new Twins customer asked what it was and Alice told her, “Salt hearn, and it’s good.”

The customer figured out what she meant and went to correct her: “You mean salt herring.”

“That’s right. Salt hearn, and it’s very good,” Alice said.

The lady ordered ham and eggs.

Tradition. It’s such an important part of downtown.

 

John Edwards is publisher emeritus of The Smithfield Times. His email address is j.branchedwards@gmail.com.