Take a step back in time and relive the dining adventure known as The Harvey House. I fell in love with this story as a youngster when watching Judy Garland’s movie, The Harvey House, with my mother.
As our family traveled around the United States, I found these historic diners were still in operation today! So of course, we had to stop and eat in a Harvey House.
The History
Frederick Henry Harvey was born in Liverpool England June 27, 1835. He emigrated to the US from London, England at the age of 17 in 1853. His first job in the US was a pot scrubber and busboy at Smith McNell’s restaurant in New York City.
He began working as a freight agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. In 1876 he opened 3 eateries along the Kansas Pacific Railway in Wallace, KS, Lawrence, KS, and Hugo, CO. These eateries closed down within a year. Their short lived success convinced Mr. Harvey of the potential for great profit. The Burlington Railroad declined his offer of establishing a system wide operation of eateries.
The Atchison, Topeka & Sant Fe Railway contracted with Mr. Harvey for several “Harvey Houses” on an experimental basis. Initially Mr. Harvey the small, 20 seat, lunchroom at Santa Fe’s Topeka/Kansas depot in 1876.
In 1878, Harvey started the official Harvey House dining house/hotel establishment along the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe tracks in Florence, KS. Rapid growth of the chain soon followed with the second opening in Lakin, KS.
The Harvey House became the first restaurant chain the United States. Mr. Harvey is also credited with promoting tourism in the America Southwest. When he passed away in 1901, his family inherited 45 restaurants and 20 dining cars in 12 states. When the business was sold to Amfrac, Inc (now Xanterra Parks and Resorts), the Fred Harvey Company was the 6th largest food retailer in the United States.
The Fred Harvey home is currently being renovated. You can drive by it at 620 Olive St, Leavenworth, KS 66048.
The Harvey Girls
In 1883, Mr Harvey began employing female serving staff. His advertisements called for: well-mannered, educated American ladies, between the age of 18 – 30, of good character, attractive, and intelligent. They were paid $17.50/month, plus given room and board. This was very generous at the time.
The girls had a strict 10pm curfew. Their uniform was a starched black and white long dress, ‘elsie’ collars, black stockings, and black shoes. Their hair was restrained in a net and tied with a white ribbon. Make up was prohibited and no chewing gum was allowed. They signed a 6 month work contract and were penalized half their base pay if they failed to complete the contract. Marriage was the most common cause for a girl to terminate her employment.
In 1945, Judy Garland starred in the musical The Harvey Girls, which is where I fell in love with the history of these girls.
Harvey House Locations
There are several Harvey Houses still standing. A few of them are still serving food today. You can find historic Harvey Houses that are still standing on the map below. I have listed The Harvey House still offering meals:
Bucket List
So far, I have visited or eaten at these locations.
