The White Swan story,

told by the man who has run the business for 35 years

 

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH LINWOOD PARKER BY GARY RIDOUT

Ninety-three years ago, in 1930, Percy Flowers and his brother, Jimmy Flowers, opened this restaurant pictured here. The original restaurant had a second floor that was removed in 1951.

The Flowers brothers were very smart businessmen. They recognized that the travelers on the cement highway that connected New York to Florida in 1930 would be a great source of revenue. That cement highway is Highway 301 and runs 1,099 miles through the South Atlantic states. In addition to the barbecue restaurant they also built ten cabins similar to the ones pictured here. Each cabin had two rooms so twenty people could stay at one time.     Photos from Gary Ridout

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Even though this was the beginning of the Great Depression, they did very well. Jimmy Flowers’s son who was also named Jimmy served on the school board for many years. Before he passed away in 2022, he recalled the two years he lived in one of the cabins so he could help his father and uncle run the business. Each cabin was named after a hotel in Florida which made it easier for tourists to call in and reserve the cabin of their choice.
 
Over the years, people have told me two theories on why the restaurant is called "White Swan." One is that at the turn of the century in 1900 there were white swans that swam on Holt Lake and the Neuse River. The other is that there was a very popular cigar in the early part of the 20th Century called the "White Swan" cigar.

This restaurant and motel were owned and run by the Flowers brothers for eighteen years (1930-1948). It was then sold to R. P. Holding and Snooks Heavner in 1948. Holding and Heavner brought in Red Shirley and his family who managed the restaurant and motel for about three years and lived on the second floor of the restaurant.

In 1951, Cleveland Holly bought the restaurant and the cabins from Mr. Holding. The Heavners kept the back property. Cleveland Holly tore down the second floor of the restaurant and expanded the restaurant part of the business. He then tore down six of the twelve cabins and built the motel section of the business.

I was born in 1948 and grew up in Four Oaks. I had graduated with a degree in accounting in 1969 and in 1970, Mr. Holly hired me to be his tax accountant. Mr. Holly died in 1977. He was not married so his three sisters operated the restaurant and the motel part of the business.
 
One of the sisters was married to a man named William Stanley. In 1979 Mr. Stanley added fried chicken to the menu. In 1988 Mr. Stanley became ill and the sisters decided to sell the business. I was put in charge of selling it for them. Many people were interested in buying the business but when they considered that it was a 365-twenty-four-hours-a-day job, they backed off.

J.D. Heath was a friend of mine. He owned J.D.’s Music. I called him and said, "J.D., you need to consider buying this business and the property." J.D. replied, "I have always wanted to own it, but I don’t know anything about running a restaurant and motel. If you will go in with me, I would like to buy it." I said to J.D., "To be honest with you, I haven’t got the money to buy it." Said J.D.: "I have the money, and you know the business, so let’s do it."

We took over the business in September 1988. He continued to operate J.D.’s Music and I continued to operate my accounting business. In 1994, J.D. passed away so I ended up with the entire business.

In just a few years, we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of White Swan Barbecue. I am starting a program now with my daughters Elizabeth and Lisa. For the next seven years, until 2030, we will be celebrating the stories connected with White Swan Bar-B-Q and Fried Chicken. We have three-to-four-thousand followers online who share stories about their experiences and memories of the restaurant.

My inspiration for this was born a few years back when I was chopping a pig during a catering. A man stepped over to me and said, "You know what I do every morning?" I said, "No, I don’t." He replied, "I get up every morning and get a cup of coffee, then I go to the computer and log into your site. I love to hear what people are saying about White Swan." My reaction to that was that he must not have much to do if that was his routine.

I thought about it later and realized that people liked to hear about a restaurant where they love the food. This man was from Minnesota.

Just then a lady from California came over and said, "Linwood, you heard what he said. That’s what I do, too. It makes my day to hear about what is going on with White Swan Bar-B-Que and Fried Chicken."

We feel that this is an opportunity to build good will and expand the business. In the next few months, we are going to expand the story-telling by asking people to share their stories so everyone can read and participate.
 
White Swan Bar-B-Que and Fried Chicken uses the same cookers that Cleveland Holly used in 1951. We also use the same recipe for the barbecue. The only change we have made is that we vacuum-seal our pork. This gives us a better product for the customer. When the pork is vacuum sealed, all the air is pulled out. There is no oxidation. The pores of the barbecue are opened up so that the sauce gets deep into the meat. That really improves the taste and enables the customers to keep the barbecue longer.

In the barbecue business there was always barbecue, slaw, and hush puppies. As I said earlier, William Stanley added fried chicken but no other foods. My mother joined the business in 2001 and taught our cooks how to season different dishes. With her expertise, we were able to add boiled potatoes, green beans, Brunswick stew, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and collards. All these were based on old family recipes.
 
One secret to a successful business is having a competent and loyal staff. Our operations manager, Penny McArtan, has been with us since 1998. My daughter, Lisa, has been with us since 1988. Everyone in the restaurant has been there at least five years and most have been with us ten to twenty years.
 
There have been several other barbecue establishments in Johnston County over the years. Junius Moore started Smithfield's Chicken and Barbecue on Third Street in Bowntown Smithfield. Junius was Tom Moore’s brother. There was Massengill’s Barbecue on Highway 301 closer to the intersection with Business Highway 70, and Holt Lake Barbecue was on Highway 301 near the Holt Lake bridge before it closed about three years ago.

There are many noteworthy facts about White Swan Bar-B-Q and Fried Chicken. Outside of First Citizens Bank, this is the oldest continuously operated business in Johnston County. White Swan is one of the oldest barbecue restaurants in eastern North Carolina and is possibly the oldest one in the entire state of North Carolina.

There are at least five generations and maybe six that have dined at this restaurant. It is the focal point of the county. We participate in peoples’ holidays by providing turkeys and hams for their gatherings. People come back home and they have to get themselves some BBQ.

After World War II, people began to have money to spend on eating out and traveling. This was around 1947. You will find that most of the barbecue restaurants were started around this time. People had cars and were traveling. Most barbecue restaurants were built next to gas stations. People would stop, fill up with gas, and get a barbecue sandwich.
 
The cabins associated with our motel are very interesting. The Town of Smithfield has granted permission for us to build ten more cabins. We will have a motor court again like we did fifty years ago. In the early 1990s, the North Carolina film commission contacted us because the cabins are of early to mid-century vintage. Part of a gangster movie was filmed with the cabins as a backdrop. The commission did not ask me to act in the movie. I think I would have won an academy award if they had.
 
For ninety-three years, both the restaurant and the motel have been in continuous operation. Counting the Flowers, the Heavners, the Holdings, the Hollys, the Heaths, and the Parkers, there have been six families continually operating this business.  For anyone who was raised in Johnston County, they can point to White Swan Bar-B-Q and Fried Chicken as the place that has continued over the years.

Just recently a man was getting ready to celebrate his 88th birthday. He wanted the celebration to be at White Swan. When I went in to greet the family, I found out that the 88-year-old man knew many stories about the restaurant and its history. That is the kind of richness that the online experience will hopefully bring.

 

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