"SHSI Certificate of Recognition"
"Best on the Web"


Encyclopedia Dubuque

www.encyclopediadubuque.org

"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN

Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.




HARDEE'S

From Encyclopedia Dubuque
Jump to navigationJump to search
Rhomberg location c. 2000
703 Dodge (prior to the reconstruction of Dodge) Photo courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/groups/45737582684/

HARDEE'S. Hardee's founder, Wilbur Hardee, opened his first restaurant in Greenville, North Carolina, on September 9, 1960. On the strength of its distinctive burger menu items, including the Huskee, the chain experienced rapid growth by franchising and, to a lesser extent, by acquiring other restaurant chains. The first company store opened in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in May 1961 by James Carson Gardner and Leonard Rawls on McDonald St. in downtown Rocky Mount. That location has since been razed. (1)

According to Wilbur Hardee, Gardner and Rawls won a controlling share of the company from him in a game of poker. After realizing that he lost control over his namesake company, Hardee sold his remaining shares to them as well. The chain was headquartered in Rocky Mount until 2001. (2)

The 1974 through 1993 Dubuque City Directory listed Hardee's at 2282 University and 55 John F. Kennedy. Hardees Drive-Inn was located at 420 Rhomberg while Hardees Restaurant was listed at 703 Dodge.

The Hardee's on Dodge was sold to the Iowa Department of Transportation ahead of improvements to Highway 20 through Dubuque. In 1998 the Dubuque Zoning Advisory Commission approved the site and landscaping plans for the construction of a new 35,000 square foot Hardee's in ASBURY PLAZA. (3)

---

Source:

1. "Hardee's," Wikipedia. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardee's

2. Ibid.

3. Wilkinson, Jennifer. "Hardee's Receives OK to Beef Up Future Plaza," Telegraph Herald, March 4, 1998, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980304&printsec=frontpage&hl=en