On the afternoon of Berthoud Day (June 4, 2022) there will be a ceremony at the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum to unveil the Wayside Inn flagstone in the Pioneer Courtyard. Since 2014 over 300 persons have taken the opportunity to have their individual, family, or business names inscribed on pavers or sandstone slabs or flagstones spread across the courtyard. One of the most recent inscriptions commemorates Berthoud’s iconic Williams Wayside Inn, a famous fried chicken eating establishment that earned a national reputation in the 1960s. The 1:00 P.M. unveiling is open to the public and is expected to draw many former employees who worked at the “Inn” during its heyday.

Photo courtesy of Mark Williams Collection, Berthoud Historical Society – In 1951 Stan Williams posed for a photo in front of the Wayside Inn. The famous fried chicken restaurant was located at the southwest corner of Mountain Avenue and 5^th Street in Berthoud.

While the Wayside Inn was a Berthoud landmark under the operation of William and Matilda Eickel (1922-1923), W.F. Griffin (1924-1935), Avery Miller (1936), Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Wacker (1937-1940), and Mr. and Mrs. Niel Nielson (1941-1949), it was not until the restaurant was purchased by Lee and Stan Williams in 1951 that it began to earn a national reputation.

Lee Williams was a member of a family that had operated the Williams Café in Longmont since 1903. Stan, his son, was a veteran of World War II who was aching to branch out on his own when the restaurant became available for purchase. They bought the restaurant in August 1951, spent the remainder of that year remodeling it, and opened it in grand fashion in January 1952. Prior to the “Inn’s” reopening that year the local newspaper noted, “The kitchen when completed will be much larger and has been rearranged to make better use of the available space.  One of the improvements made in the kitchen has been the installation of a huge canopy which covers the entire cooking area. A new broiler and oven has been placed in for service and a new style hot food table has been installed. And, of course, the thing that will catch the eyes of all women is the automatic dish washer.

“The cloak room has been reappointed and the floors throughout have been refurbished. In the east dining room the floors have been re-sanded and varnished to a little darker tone than was the previous finish.

“With the improvements we have undertaken in the kitchen, says Stan Williams, the owner of the Inn, we will be able to give the diners much faster and better service than heretofore.”

Whether true or not, it has been said that prior to Williams’ arrival chickens were captured from a pen behind the restaurant, slaughtered and dressed, and fried in cast iron skillets when a customer placed an order. It is certain, however, that in the early days the restaurant not only served fried chicken but also elk steaks!

The Inn’s entry into national notoriety got underway in earnest in 1958 when a color painting of the restaurant along with two of the restaurant’s recipes appeared in Ford Times magazine. From that time forward a typical Sunday at the Wayside Inn was marked with hordes of waiting patrons crammed inside or standing outside while waiting to get seated.

Over the years Williams was well-loved in the Berthoud community for employing legions of local residents and high school students as well as for supporting a myriad of civic activities.

In 1978, after decades of operating his iconic restaurant, Williams sold the Wayside Inn to Longmont’s Fred Peterson.

On Saturday, June 4, 2022, at 1:00 P.M. a flagstone commemorating Williams Wayside Inn will be unveiled in the Pioneer Courtyard of the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum. Inscribed on the flagstone is an image that Stan Williams emblazoned on a matchbook—a chicken wearing a vest and toting a suitcase that promoted the Inn’s “Traveler” carry-out dinner. The unveiling is open to the public and is expected to attract a throng of people who hold fond memories of the Williams Wayside Inn.