Welcome to the Original Home of the Hamburger!
Did you know the hamburger is said to have originated in Athens, Texas? Yep, even McDonald's University says so. "Uncle" Fletcher Davis introduced his wonderful new sandwich at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and it has since become America’s favorite sandwich and a world-wide icon.
As the Home of the Original Hamburger, Athens celebrates Uncle Fletch and his fabulous creation the second weekend each June at the Uncle Fletch’s Burger and Bar-B-Q Cook-Off.
Old Dave was a potter by trade and referred to as “Uncle Fletch” after his marriage to Recinda “Aunt Ciddy” Allison. In the 1880’s the pottery business was slow and Uncle Fletch opened a lunch counter next to the drug store at 115 East Tyler Street on the Athens Texas downtown square. The sandwich consisted of a ground beef patty between two slices of fresh homemade bread, garnished with ground mustard mixed with mayonnaise, a big slice of Burmuda onion, and sliced cucumber pickles. The Athens Chamber of Commerce placed a commemorative plaque at the location where the lunch counter was.
Frank X Tolbert did a lot of “sweatneck” research about the hamburger. In his book called “Tolbert’s Texas” Mr. Tolbert dedicated a chapter on the origin of the hamburger. He talks about a reporter for the New York Tribune who wrote about a sandwich called the hamburger, “the innovation of a food vendor on the pike.” In Frank’s research of talking with Clint Murchison, Jr., of Dallas and Kindree Miller, Sr. they quoted Grandfather Murchison, “When I was ten years old I went with my parents to the 1904 fair and to visit with our relatives. Uncle Fletch and Aunt Ciddy had rented a large house in Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb. We stayed with them for maybe two weeks and we went to the fair almost every day and lived on hamburgers, when we were there. Uncle Fletch had a good location, across the midway from a show featuring famous Indian warriors who had been talked into going on exhibit, including the old Apache, Geronimo.”
Dick Hitt, author, wrote a book called “Classic Clint – The Laughs and times of Clint Murchison, Jr” . This is a book of letters from Clint Murchison Jr. Clint included a picture of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and he wrote on his copy of the photo where Old Dave’s original hamburger stand was located.