Former New York City, Fall River, and Middletown diner now in Utah and is in the National Register of Historic Places
The history of a cafe that has been in the Fall River area for decades is fascinating. Even historic.
The Jeny O Mahony Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, produced O Mahony Dining Car #1107 in 1939, according to the National Register of Historic Places.
The one-story steel frame monitor-roof dining car #1107 is designed in the Streamlined Moderne style. #1107 was specially constructed for its first location, the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City, and the dining car was intended to be a movable structure type. Following the fair, the dining vehicle was bought and relocated to McDermott’s Diner in Fall River, Massachusetts.
During its tenure in Fall River, it underwent modifications such as the installation of a blade sign on the roof, the construction of a one-story addition in the back, and the covering of the clerestory windows (during the 1940s). McDermott swapped out the dining car for a modern model after fourteen years.
After being sold, the O Mahony relocated to Middletown, Rhode Island, where it was known as Tommy’s Deluxe Diner from 1953 until 2006. The dining car was briefly relocated to Middletown, 100 yards to the south, where a 20-by-40-foot concrete block and frame expansion was built in the back. After fifty years as Tommy’s Deluxe Diner, the structure saw comparatively few significant changes.During this period, the McDermott sign (from 1953) was taken down, the booths and some kitchenware were replaced (around 1970s), new roof materials were installed, and a door and some windows were replaced (2005).
Keith Walker, the current owner, bought the dining car in 2006, had it shipped to Oakley, Utah, and had it set up on a new foundation at the intersection of the town’s two main highways. The dining car is pointed in the direction of the highway intersection. The dining car was completely restored in 2007 with all of the original materials and furnishings that were still there. Historic photos and other existing O Mahony dining vehicles were used as references to recreate missing and/or damaged parts. With little outward influence on the 1939 building, an annexe was added to the back.
The Road Island Diner, which serves standard American diner fare, reopened as the O Mahony Dining Car #1107 in 2008. The history of dining cars and diners as a sort of movable property in general, and the history of the O Mahony #1107 dining car in particular, are in line with the dining car’s movement and the building of the annex addition.
The Jeny O. Mahony Company, which was regarded as the Cadillac of diner enterprises at the time, constructed over 2,000 diners between 1917 and 1941, of which less than a few are still in use.
In 2009, the New York City, Middletown, and Fall River diner was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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