The Hi-Way Cafe near Vinita, Oklahoma, was one of 25 restaurants to receive $40,000 from the Backing Historic Small Restaurants Grant Program by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Launched in 2021, last year 25 small historic restaurants across the country each received a $40,000 grant to improve, upgrade, and preserve their exterior physical spaces and online operations so they can better serve their customers, financially recover, and grow their businesses after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program’s focus in 2022 was on independent small restaurants that have been in business for at least 25 years and operate in historic buildings or neighborhoods. This year’s grants will help them make updates such as creating outdoor seating, address deferred maintenance of historic spaces and fund other general operating and marketing costs.
The Hi-Way also announced it received the grant, adding: “We are excited to have been selected and plan to share every step of the way with our customers and community!”
About a year ago, the restaurant created a “Giving Wall” so customers could discreetly pay it forward for those who are less fortunate.
I’ve been unable to verify when the Hi-Way Cafe was built, but I found local newspaper articles from 1969 referring to it. So it is more than a half-century old.
(Image of the Hi-Way Cafe sign near Vinita, Oklahoma, by Stu Rapley via Flickr)
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