Hill House Groceries

Long before Bells Ferry Road became the busy roadway we know today, small family owned grocery stores were the heart of many Cherokee County neighborhoods. One of those beloved establishments was Hillhouse Grocery, operated by Warner and Florine Hillhouse.

For generations of Cherokee County residents, places like Hillhouse Grocery were much more than somewhere to purchase milk, bread, or a cold Coca Cola. They were neighborhood gathering places where familiar faces greeted one another, conversations were shared, and friendships were built.

Hillhouse Grocery stood at the fork of Bells Ferry Road and Ridge Road in the Sixes community of Canton, Georgia.

But the history of Hillhouse Grocery goes back even further. According to a preserved family recollection by Ted Anderson, the store was originally built in 1925 by his grandfather, H. H. Hillhouse. The Hillhouse family was deeply involved in the Sixes community, operating sawmills, a corn mill, and a blacksmith shop that helped provide employment during the Great Depression. 

Anderson also remembered a fascinating piece of local history. During the summertime, a converted school bus known as the Rolling Store would stop at Warner's Store once a week, selling supplies such as flour and sugar. Children could look forward to treats including suckers and toys. It was a time when even a simple trip to the grocery store could become a memorable childhood adventure. 

Today, Bells Ferry Road looks very different from the quiet community pictured in this photograph. Traffic, subdivisions, and modern businesses have transformed the landscape, but photographs like this preserve the people and places that helped build Cherokee County.

Warner and Florine Hillhouse deserve to be remembered as part of that history. Their family grocery store represents a chapter of Cherokee County life that newer generations may never have experienced.

Tell us your memories in the comments! We would especially love to hear from members of the Hillhouse family and longtime residents of the Sixes community.

Let's keep Cherokee County's history alive, one memory at a time.

Eye on Cherokee News | Preserving the People, Places, and Stories of Cherokee County

There was a time when a good meal in Cherokee County meant something very different than it does today. You could walk into a small local cafe, sit down with friends and neighbors and order a plate of home cooking that looked more like a Sunday dinner than a restaurant meal. For many people who remember the Bells Ferry community, the Bells Ferry Cafe and Ozella Stewart are part of those cherished memories.

Ozella Stewart was known for serving the kind of home cooking that did not leave anyone wondering if they had gotten enough to eat. When you ordered a plate, you got a plate loaded with food, with generous portions that seemed to spill toward the edges. It was the kind of cooking that was filling, familiar and made people feel like they were sitting down at someone’s kitchen table rather than eating at a restaurant.

The Bells Ferry Cafe was located at 6555 Bells Ferry rd, part of a community where local restaurants could become gathering places as much as places to eat. Neighbors could stop in, share a meal, catch up on the latest news and spend time talking with people they knew. The food was important, but so was the sense of community that came with sitting around a table in a place where people knew your name.

That is what makes memories of old Cherokee County restaurants so special. They were often simple places without the polished dining rooms and elaborate menus that are common today, but they had something that cannot easily be recreated. The recipes, the people behind the counter, the conversations and those enormous plates of food became part of the character of the community.

Ozella Stewart’s cooking became part of that Bells Ferry story. Her name remains connected to memories of hearty home cooking and the kind of generosity that meant you were unlikely to leave the cafe hungry. For those who experienced it, the food was more than a meal because it became part of a time and place that many Cherokee County residents still remember fondly.

Bells Ferry itself has changed tremendously over the decades. Roads that were once quieter are now busy, neighborhoods have grown across the landscape and many of the businesses and gathering places remembered by older residents are gone. Yet the stories of those places continue to survive through the people who remember them and the families who pass those memories down.

The Bells Ferry Cafe is one of those memories worth preserving. It represents a piece of Cherokee County when home cooking, generous portions and a familiar face behind the counter could make a little cafe an important part of everyday life. And when people remember Ozella Stewart, they remember more than food; they remember a time when getting a plate of home cooking meant getting a plate filled with enough food to make you feel right at home.

There was once a little barbecue restaurant tucked away along Old Canton Road where the floors were covered in sawdust, rusty antique tools and old farming equipment hung from the walls, and the smell of slow cooked Southern barbecue welcomed hungry customers from miles around.

That place was Two Brothers Bar-B-Que, one of Cherokee County’s most memorable family owned restaurants and a true piece of Ball Ground history.

The story began in 1974 when brothers Ken and Grady Jordan found themselves out of work. Rather than give up, the brothers decided to turn an old grocery store built by their father into a barbecue restaurant using treasured family recipes.

What started as a family business would become a Cherokee County institution, attracting generations of customers who appreciated good food, friendly service, and an atmosphere unlike anything found in modern restaurants.

And what an atmosphere it was!

Walking into Two Brothers was almost like stepping into an old country museum. Sawdust covered the floors, while rusty farm implements, antique tools, and reminders of rural Georgia’s agricultural past decorated the walls and ceiling.

There was nothing fancy about the place, and that was exactly what made it special. Families gathered around tables, neighbors caught up on local happenings, and visitors discovered a restaurant that seemed frozen in another era.

Of course, the food was the real attraction. Two Brothers became known for its chopped pork barbecue, homemade Brunswick stew, coleslaw, baked beans, and delicious desserts.

The Brunswick stew was particularly famous, prepared using a secret family recipe. The restaurant took pride in preparing nearly everything in its own kitchen, maintaining the homemade Southern cooking traditions that had helped establish its reputation.

By 2010, the Southern Foodways Alliance had recognized the restaurant’s cultural importance and recorded an oral history with Ken Jordan and his son Randy, who had grown up helping around the family business before joining the operation full time.

For decades, customers traveled from Ball Ground, Canton, Jasper, and surrounding communities to enjoy the barbecue. Some remembered the homemade ice cream and chocolate pie, while others never forgot the unusual sawdust floors and collections of antique farm equipment.

Sadly, Two Brothers eventually closed, leaving behind generations of memories and an empty space in Cherokee County’s restaurant history.

Today, the former restaurant property at 1695 Old Canton Road is being advertised for sale, with the old restaurant building still identified in the property’s commercial listing.

But to the people who grew up eating there, Two Brothers was never simply another barbecue restaurant. It was part of their childhood, their family traditions, and the small town character that made Ball Ground special.

CHEROKEE COUNTY, DO YOU REMEMBER TWO BROTHERS BBQ?

Did you ever eat at Two Brothers in Ball Ground? Do you remember walking across those sawdust covered floors, looking at all the rusty old tools hanging from the walls, or enjoying a plate of barbecue and Brunswick stew?

What was your favorite thing on the menu? Did you know the Jordan family or work at the restaurant?

We would love to hear your memories and see any old photographs you may have!

Let’s keep Cherokee County’s history alive, one story at a time.

Eye on Cherokee News

Preserving the People, Places, and Stories of Cherokee County