A brick store and gas station building dating to the 1950s in the Hickory Flat community has been demolished to build a new fast-food restaurant.
The Hickory Flat store building, though vacant, was a landmark at the intersection of Hickory Flat Highway and East Cherokee Drive. Plans call for a Chick-fil-A restaurant on the site, according to the Cherokee County planning department.
The Cherokee County Historical Society had launched a petition drive to save the building, but it was demolished last week. "This is the last historic building located on the four corners that was the epicenter of historic Hickory Flat," according to a description of the property on the Historical Society's website.
Built in 1950, it had been a store and gas station. More recently, an antique shop was located on the property. The building had been vacant for a number of years at the time of the demolition. The brick building replaced a wood building that previously stood on the site, the historic society said.
The site is owned by Glenridge HF I LLC, according to the planning department.
The property is close to the Hickory Flat Historical Cemetery on East Cherokee Drive, the Hickory Flat Library and a campus of Cherokee County schools that includes Sequoyah High School, Dean Rusk Middle School and Hickory Flat Elementary.
Hickory Flat, though not incorporated, is one of the oldest communities in Cherokee County.
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