St. Cloud Corner/ Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant

On the corner you will see St. Cloud’s Corner. This 75,000 square foot building was constructed in 1869. It has served as the home for many businesses for over 150 years. Most notably, it was once part of the Cain-Sloan Department Store, which opened in the St. Cloud building in 1903. Cain-Sloan played a major role in the Civil Rights sit-ins movement in 1959 and 1960. Downtown stores, like Cain-Sloan, were retail stores but also featured diner-style restaurants, called lunch counters. African Americans were allowed to shop in these stores but were not allowed to sit and eat at the lunch counter. Students from local black colleges and universities (called HBCUs) stood up for equal right by sitting down. They were met with violence by white customers and counter-protesters who hit, pushed, kicked, and verbally abused them. The student protesters did not retaliate. Even so, dozens of students were arrested for disorderly conduct; none of the white agitators were arrested. In May 1960, Mayor Ben West agreed that downtown lunch counters should be desegregated, and shortly after, Cain-Sloan was one of the first stores to serve African Americans at their lunch counter.

Today, the St. Cloud building’s upper floors are used for office space. The ground level features a historic restaurant of a different kind—Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant. Puckett’s opened as a small rural grocery store in the 1950s in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. They are known for BBQ, biscuits, burgers, and other southern comfort foods. Puckett’s is also known for local live music—including here at this downtown location. So check it out! If you venture outside of downtown, you can still visit Puckett’s at its original location in Leiper’s Fork. 

From the St. Could’s Corner building, cross and turn LEFT onto Church Street. At the next intersection, Fourth and Church, you will see the Life and Casualty Tower on your right. Take a close look at the information inscribed on the building while we tell you a little more about it.