In 1955, the Green Gables Cafe was located at 304 North Houston Avenue at the northeast corner of Gandy Street. This newspaper photo came courtesy of Steve Armstrong.

This site has an interesting history.

Here Edward Perry, a pioneer Denison banker, erected his first home. It was a commodious two-story house set on five acres and had a large cellar, cistern, wells, and stables. (He later built a duplicate for his family at 521 East Main Street.)

In 1875, the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur purchased the Houston Avenue home from the Perrys, and, on January 24, 1876, it became the first location of St. Francis Xavier Academy, a girls' boarding and day school. In 1879 the sisters realized the need for larger quarters and built a substantial frame structure in the 300 block of Sears Street, near Rusk Avenue. After they had moved, the original Perry house burned in July 1880.

In the late 1920s, as automobiles were increasing in popularity, Marion "Mack" McGlothlin opened a service station called "Mack's Golden Gas" at the site; it was in operation until 1935, when he moved to a new location at Houston Avenue and East Main Street.

Winston Strinhorn then established the Green Gables Cafe at the location. Joe Fawcett purchased the cafe in the early 1940s, and continued operations for more than a decade. One favorite dish at Green Gables was breaded veal cutlets. Two women who worked there were Marie Bains and Bessie Isom. The last owner was Art Hogenson, father of Mel McGirk. Next, in 1958, he opened "The Rib" on Highway 69 with the help of Mel and her son Cactus McGirk.

The cafe on Houston Avenue was renamed Hall's for a couple of months in the late 1950s, but when Bessie Campbell took over, the Green Gables name was back until it ceased operating in 1974. A number of people ran the Green Gables in the 1960s, including Emma Merrell, Arlene Weger, Louise Green, Grace Watts, Edna Franklin, and Gertrude Platt. In 1974, Tommy Richardson took over the site and operated it for five years as Tommy's Mexican Restaurant. In 1979, the building was vacated and abandoned. It was torn down in the early 1990s. The site then was used as a fenced-in salvage yard; Johnson-Burks was behind it to the east.

Sources of information include Tom B. Anderson, Billy Holcomb, and Doug Hoover. A helpful article is Bess Murphy Drew Jr., "St. Xavier Pioneered Cultural and Educational Trail to City," Denison Herald, April 29, 1951.

On Facebook, Dr. Joe Fawcett posted on May 16, 2013: "Joe 'Big Joe' Fawcett was my granddad. His daughter Barbara is my aunt. His son, Jack, my dad, graduated from Denison High and Austin College. He married my mother, Jane Joiner of Sherman. Big Joe and his wife, Lois, sold the restaurant and moved to Corpus Christi, where they owned two A&W Root Beer stands. I remember going there often when we lived there. They had carhops and some on roller skates. They also served fried pies that I've never been able to compare to. And their burgers were crazy delicious!"