Katie Milford Shoemake and Cumming's S&M Cafe

Two photographs from around 1960 offer a look inside the S&M Cafe in Cumming. Short for Shoemake & Milford, S&M was a family-run restaurant operated by Katie Milford Shoemake and her sister-in-law Ineal Milford.

Katie, wearing dark-rimmed glasses, appears at the far left in both surviving photographs. The other women have not been identified and may have been Katie's relatives.

Katie and the Family Cafe

Katie was born in Forsyth County in 1910 to Augustus Dorsey Milford and Minnie Florence Pruitt. She married Guy J. Shoemake. S&M became an important part of her working life and was the restaurant she operated with Ineal.

The cafe stood along Atlanta Highway, the roadway now known as Highway 9 or Atlanta Road, across from the site of today's Domino's Pizza.

S&M opened in October 1954 and operated into the early 1970s. The cafe served breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, along with special Sunday meals. For local families, it was a place to eat; for community groups, it became a regular meeting place.

A Cumming Gathering Place

S&M quickly became part of Cumming's community calendar. In June 1955, Cumming's garden clubs entertained flower-show judges at a luncheon there. The Forsyth County Jaycees and Jaycettes, Lions Club and Farmers Mutual Exchange also held meetings or dinners at the cafe. In September 1959, 17 Jaycettes gathered after a steak dinner; 18 gathered after another steak supper the following April.

Katie also worked as a cook at the Appalachian restaurant in Cumming.

S&M continued operating into the early 1970s. By then, nearly two decades of meals and community gatherings had made it a familiar stop along Atlanta Highway.

Katie died in Cumming in 2005 at age 95.

Sources

• Photographs and family history supplied by Katie's great-grandson, Jay Shoemake.
• Forsyth County News, October 14, 1954, S&M Cafe opening announcement.
• Forsyth County News, June 2, 1955, page 5
• Forsyth County News, September 17, 1959, page 5
• Forsyth County News, April 14, 1960, page 5
• Katie Milford genealogical record summary
• Katie Milford Shoemake obituary.