Colonel Sanders, step off!
Special thanks to Melody Waller for bringing this to my attention…
In an effort to celebrate Black History, I thought it was appropriate to honor a true pioneer and trailblazer, Harold Pierce.
Harold Pierce (August 11, 1917 – March 8, 1988)
was an African-American entrepreneur who founded the successful Harold’s Chicken Shack restaurant chain in Chicago.
Pierce was born in Midway, Alabama and moved to Chicago in 1943 from Freemanville, Alabama to work as a chauffeur for Jack Stern, a furniture store owner. By 1950, he was running a small restaurant with his wife, Hilda, on 39th Street. The H & H specialized in chicken feet and dumplings. Pierce thought that he could adapt his recipe for fried chicken, and a friend, Gene Rosen, who ran a poultry shop nearby, offered him some chickens to experiment with. The resultant recipe caused Pierce to open Harold’s Chicken Shack at 47th and Greenwood in 1950. About fifty years ago, Harold Pierce noticed that the major fast food chains tended to avoid African-American neighborhoods in Chicago’s South Side. His protest took the form of starting his own restaurant, Harold’s Chicken Shack. Over the years, dozens of Harold’s franchises have popped up in and around Chicago, winning the love of both casual consumers and more particular palates. And, though it seems to have gone largely unnoticed, “The Fried Chicken King” has now opened all over the US.
He franchised the idea out to friends and family who opened additional Harold Chicken Shacks throughout Chicago. One of Pierce’s stipulations was that they purchase their chickens from Rosen. Otherwise, Pierce didn’t interfere with the management of the stores, which led to deviations in the te chniques, flavors, and qualities of the product as well as variations in the menu from one restaurant to another.
After retiring in the early 1980s, he moved to Beaverville, Illinois, where he indulged in a passion for raising hunting dogs.
Pierce died in Kankakee, Illinois of prostate cancer in 1988. His second wife, Willa, took over running the business and began expanding it outside of Chicago. Willa died on January 21, 2003 in Beaverville.
Complete list of Harolds Chicken Shacks
| No. 1 7136 S. State Street 773-487-9817 |
No. 2 6419 South Cottage Grove Ave 773-363-9586 |
No. 3B 8316 South Ashland 773-298-0964 |
| No. 4 6241 South Ashland 773-925-9674 |
No. 7 208 E. 47th Street 773-285-8362 |
No. 8 2521 W. 63rd Street 773-778-9659 |
| No. 9B 2000 W. 51st Street 773-373-9249 |
No. 10 565 Fair Street, Atlanta, GA 404-523 -0060 |
No. 12 917 West 87th Street 773-224-4621 |
| 0A | ||
| No. 13 7310 S. Halsted Street 773-723-9006 |
No. 14 1208 East 53rd Street 773-752-9270 |
No. 15 7136 S. State Street 773-487-9817 |
| No. 17 12262 S. Pulaski, Alsip, IL 708-489-9472 |
No. 18 8820 S. Stony Island 773-768-9712 |
No. 19 808 East 79th Street 773-723-3545 |
| No. 20 574 Torrence Avenue, Calumet City, IL 708-868-4880 |
No. 21 6843 S. Ashland Avenue 773-778-9890 |
No. 22 4142 W. 167th Street, Oak Forest, IL 708-596-1100 |
| No. 23 3792 West 79th Street 773-582-8960 |
No. 24 407 East 75th Street 773-488-9533 |
No. 25 1350 West Jefferson, Joliet, IL 708-945-2266 |
| No. 26 9151 South Ashland 773-881-9884 |
No. 27 10259 S. Halsted Street 773-2332042 |
No. 29 307 East 51st Street 773-373-9016 |
| No. 31 19767 S. Torrence Ave., Lynwood, IL 708-418-8705 |
No. 32 918 W. Market, Bloomington, IL 309-828-8880 |
No. 35 12700 S. Halsted Street 773-785-4153 |
| No. 36 1361 N. Milwaukee 773-25 2-2424 |
No. 37 5608 S. Ashland Avenue 773-476-5445 |
No. 38 2444 East 79th Street 773-933-9409 |
| No. 39 518 West Harrison 312-662-9000 |
No. 40 307 E. Garfield 773-324-5529 |
No. 46 3418 W. 183rd Street, Hazel Crest, IL 708-798-0008 |
| No. 52 7118 S. Western Avenue 773-778-9182 |
No. 53 2517 W. 79th Street 773-737-5777 |
No. 55 100 West 87th Street 773-224-3314 |
| No. 56 1039 West 63rd Street 773-778-8270 |
No. 59 7247 South Racine 773-783-9499 |
No. 61 1537 S. Western, Chicago Heights, IL 708-481-7080 |
| No. 62 636 S. Wabash 312-362-0442 |
No. 65 11857 S. Western 773-779-9911 |
No. 66 15914 S. Kedzie, Markham, IL 708-596-5816 |
| No. 69 2218 State, Burnham, IL 708-868-9120 |
No. 71 2109 S. Wabash 312-326-5575 |
No. 76 2139 S. 17th Ave., Broadview, IL 708-345-6058 |
| No. 77 39 N. Wells 312-345-1200 |
No. 79 15411 S. Cottage Grove, Dolton, IL 708-841-0400 |
No. 81 1994 Grant Street, Gary, IN 219-949-7599 |
| No. 83 3577 East New York, Aurora, IL 630-499-8393 |
No. 87
7348 S. Stony Island 773-288-1200 |
No. 88 3844 Martin L. King Dr., East Chicago, IN 219-378-0400 |
| No. 89 14224 Indiana, Riverdale, IL 708-849-0400 |
No. 91 5460 Broadway, Merrillville, IN 219-887-5891 |
No. 94 2117 W. Broadway, Minneapolis, MN 612-529-0114 |
2 responses so far ↓
Melody // February 10, 2009 at 5:14 am |
Three piece. Salt and Pepper. Mild sauce on the side. Ahhhh…..
killaR // February 10, 2009 at 5:33 pm |
no, melody. 6 piece…salt and pepper and mild sauce, woman!
corey, man can you do something on Uncle Remus…the westside’s answer to Harold?