The building that is now home to Fenders Diner has been feeding the community of Cornelia for well over 100 years.  If these walls could talk, the stories they would tell.  The 100+ year old brick building started life as Burrell’s Market some time between the late 1900’s to early 1920’s, and it was owned by Winfred Wallace Burrell. He opened the store when his family moved down from Burton.  According to his grandson, the old Burrell’s farm is now under water.  Lake Burton was filled between 1913 and 1920.

The market’s shelves were packed with every kind of food staple a small town north Georgia cook would need for an authentic southern meal.  Just a stone’s throw from the bustling railroad station, the market was likely first stop for many arriving in Cornelia.  The store was closed in the early 1950’s, that signaled the end of one chapter, but it was just the beginning of the story.