Letter recalls former restaurant on East Morgan Street, gives us a blast from the past
By Ben Cox
Jacksonville had a number of businesses come and go over the last 200 years. The town square has been the fixture. Food has also been a center piece for gathering spots for those two centuries. One of those gathering spots was Sorrill’s Cafe that operated at 203 East Morgan Street, which opened for business on September 9, 1946 and closed in 1976.
The building where the restaurant was contained was demolished in 2019. A parking lot and parking garages were recently built on the property
Floyd E. Sorrill and his family ran the restaurant. Barbecue sandwiches, french fries and hash were some of the dishes that have come up in conversation and newspaper clippings from the restaurant’s era and in discussions with area residents. It was apparently a popular Friday night dinner hot spot and a spot for Routt/Our Saviour kids to stop and grab a bite to eat on their walk home.
Mr. Sorrill was a World War II veteran and came home to start the business. Sorrill operated the cafe for 30 years first as Sorrill’s Elm City Cafe until November 1972 when it officially changed to the Sorrill Family Restaurant.
Mr. Sorrill received a certificate for 25 years in business from then Congressman Paul Findley and local dignitaries. Mr. Sorrill passed away in 1990. His wife Cecilia passed away in 2018. The family were well-known members of Our Saviour Parish.
Back in March, all five of Mr. Sorrill’s children received envelopes that they placed in the 1975 time capsule.
Pat Sorrill-Thompson of Springfield shared with The Source some of her “treasures” she placed in the time capsule. As her letter shows, family and food are still truly a center of Jacksonville nearly 50 years later.
Two pages of the letter, typed on stationery embossed with flowers, written by 26-year-old Patricia Sorrill-Thompson that was included in the time capsule read:
July 2, 1975
MEMORIES ARE BEAUTIFUL!
Everyone said I should write a letter to put in this envelope. Right now it’s a little hard to decide what to write. I guess I should tell you about some of the good times we’ve had.
There are five of us kids. Mike is 27 years old and married to Marilyn Schroeder. I am Pat and I’m 26 years old and not married yet. Cindy is 25 years old and married to Alan Colwell. Sylvia is 25 years old and married to Phil Bradley. Tom is 24 years old and not married either. Sylv lives in Springfield and Cindy lives in Alexander. The rest of us are still in Jacksonville. We’ve all had some wonderful years together. Our Dad owns a restaurant. He bought it when Mom was pregnant with Mike. All of us kids have worked there. We started when we were in grade school and could just barely see over the counter. I know there were times when we really hated working there. As you can see, though, it didn’t kill any of us. Sometimes we even had fun there. Remember this past winter – all of us got together and painted the front of the restaurant. Dad couldn’t afford to get it done by the pros, so us “pros” took over. I think we even surprised ourselves. Remember those busy Friday nights – all 7 of us would be up there slinging hash. And oh – those hot summer days – the kitchen wasn’t air conditioned. It really got hot up there.
This family has sure had it(s) share of the good times.
It’s hard just trying to figure out what to say. I don’t know what you’ll want to hear in 50 years. I don’t know if I’ll even be alive. I sure hope so. I just want the people who read this letter to know we have a unique family. Sure we fight once in a while. We used to think that Mom and Dad were really strict with us. Believe me – they weren’t. They were the best parents you could want. they took us on vacations – Wisconsin, Florida, and three times a summer to Matanza Beach.
Remember those swimming lessons at the park. We rode our bikes out. We rode home with wet heads in a rush so we could have breakfast. Remember Girl Scout Camp and CYO camp.
Remember the hot chocolate Mom made for us after we’d been playing in the snow or shoveling some older persons side walk. Mom never let us take any money for helping someone in need.
I guess I should sign off now. I could ramble on for hours.
Just remember all the good times we’ve had. I hope this letter brings us all back together with many more fond memories.
God love you all –
Patricia Jane Andrea Sorrill
