Haven Brothers Diner

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Haven Brothers Diner in Providence, Rhode Island is one of the oldest restaurants on wheels in America and was founded in 1893 as a horse drawn lunch wagon.[1]


In 1893 Anne Philomena Haven, a widowed immigrant, (1842-1912) founded the diner with the proceeds from her husband Patrick's life insurance policy. The "lunch cart" (as the family called it) was purchased in Worcester Mass. It was originally a horse-drawn wagon. Her daughter, Catherine, and Catherine's husband Dennis continued to run the diner with the help of their young sons William and John. Dennis continued to run the business until he sold it to his daughters, Catherine, Anne, Tibertus, and Marian. The Haven family finally sold the business in 1953 to the Mollicone family, and later owners included Jack Ferry, and currently, the Giusti family.[2] Every evening at 5 p.m. the proprietor wheels the 1949 Fred W. Morse diner car (the third wagon in the diner's history) to the corner of Dorrance and Fulton Street next to the Providence City Hall.[3] After it closes at 3 a.m., the diner is wheeled away.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Seth Brown, Rhode Island Curiosities:Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff(Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2007), 47-49 ISBN:0762743387[1]
  2. ^ Seth Brown, Rhode Island Curiosities:Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff(Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2007), 49 ISBN:0762743387[2]
  3. ^ Randy Garbin, Diners of New England (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books,2005), 1993 ISBN:0811731413[3]

[edit] External links