Celebrating the Harris Diner Centennial

By Peter Gordon, Historian —

A 1974 Owego Gazette article tells the story of Lyons, N.Y. diner owner Bill Conway, whose car broke down in Owego, N.Y. in 1924, and while he was on his way to New Jersey to buy a diner.

I had erroneously thought that those sleek metal-sided ‘diners’ were recycled from railway dining cars.

Turns out, Conway was headed to purchase a prefabricated model from the Jerry O’Mahoney Diner Company (1917 – 1952) in Elizabeth, N.J. That company built around 2,000 “diners” and shipped them by truck and rail around the country.

The article said that Conway strolled around Owego’s business district while his car was being repaired. At 79 North Ave, stood a “peanut stand.”

Conway rented the property, bought a diner from O’Mahoney, and on Sept. 24, 1924, Bill Conway hitched a team of horses to the completed diner on the Lehigh Valley Railroad siding in Owego, and towed it to 79 North Ave., near the Fire Station.

The article continues to describe the original diner as having nine stools and two, two-seat tables. A 1933 remodel increased the capacity to 65 when a beer license was issued, but discontinued in 1944.

Bill Conway hired Ernie Wunder in 1931. Ernie would be a beloved fixture for almost 50 years. The Harris family, and Sam, who had operated Harris’s Catatonk Coffee Break since 1970, took over Conway’s Club Diner. On April 7, 1982, the Harris Diner opened its doors and celebrated in a full-page advertisement in the April 6, 1982 Owego Pennysaver.

Even though the original structure was largely replaced, on the same footprint and after the 2011 flood, Sam Harris is still at the grill today at 79 North Ave., serving great meals at modest prices for friends and travelers.

As a point of interest, the first hamburger served in 1924 was ordered by Carl Reig, a custodian at the fire station.

More important than the edifice are the families. In that 1982 Pennysaver ad you see the Harris family working together to serve friends a good meal with a smile. The Wunder / Conway employees are seen behind the counter shortly after the 1946 remodel.

A successful diner, in my opinion, is the embodiment of an ideal family home, a comfortable place where you’re greeted (usually with a smile), where the fare is predictably good, the surroundings and the menu are always familiar, the prices are modest, and the person next to you will share a pleasant word.

From a seat at the counter, one is always mesmerized by the ring and the wielding of a spatula put through its paces by a talented craftsman, a distraction from the blueberry, no strawberry / rhubarb pie, the crust crinkled at the edges in a come-hither pout.

I hope to share the next hundred with Sam and Melissa, and their extended family, at 79 North Ave. in Owego – the Harris (family) Diner.