Is this Springfield diner really 100 years old?

That Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop has been satisfying Springfield diners for decades is undisputable.

But just how many decades the signature, loose-meat sandwiches have been served up at the 118 N. Pasfield St. hangout can be added to the list of facts lost in the lore surrounding the local legend.

Current owner Sam Quaisi is preparing a centennial celebration for the grandmother of fast-food restaurants Saturday. But a debate roils over just how old the landmark actually is.

More: Springfield eatery celebrating 100 years by offering original prices from 1924

Quaisi points to the plaque on the homey, red-and-white building that went up after the eatery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The last line on the bronze sign reads “Circa 1924.”

“That’s what we based it on,” Quaisi said of the centennial celebration.

But the application that won that recognition from the National Park Service, reports the Pasfield Street structure was “Built in 1926” and that Maid-Rite had been “in continuous operation at its original site.”

To further muddy the water, a packet of photos included in the application to capture the building’s architectural features include one black-and-white image taken in 1983 showing a yard sign posted on the west end of the Maid-Rite that reads, “Here since 1924. Come on in.”

The application’s bibliography cites the 1928 Springfield City Directory, as proof of the business’s historical standing.

Caroline Kionka, a representative with the Sangamon Valley Collection, said no Springfield City Directory prior to 1928 listed any kind of restaurant or lunchroom at that location with either a Pasfield or Jefferson street address.

Instead, Kionka pointed to a June 14, 1928 ad that ran in the Illinois State Register – one of the forerunners of The State Journal-Register. The ad, in part, reads: “It’s Here. The Maid-Rite Hamburg. Something New at Jefferson and Pasfield.”

“Like anything, it’s hard to disprove it with 100-percent certainty,” Kionka said, “but based on contemporary sources, I certainly don’t see any evidence that it opened before 1928.”

Clarence Donley, one of six individuals who have owned the Maid-Rite over the years, was the man behind the counter when the business sought recognition as a historical landmark. He owned the Maid-Rite from 1970 to 1995.

The Sangamon Valley Archives file for Maid-Rite includes articles from multiple central Illinois publications over the years with Donley placing the eatery’s origins in both 1924 and 1926.

More: This Springfield staple offers breakfast and lunch options at an affordable cost

The application also offers up other inconsistencies about the beloved hamburger haunt from accounts Donley shared elsewhere. Such as, the application says the Springfield business was affiliated with an Iowa-based Maid-Rite chain and that the chain’s early logo of a maiden once hung at the Springfield address.

A decade later Donley sued GLS Investments Inc. of Davenport, Iowa, claiming the Springfield Maid-Rite was never a part of the Iowa chain, and successfully barred the alleged interloper from operating under the Maid-Rite name in Springfield.

A final unrelated, but possibly telling, note on the Maid-Rite’s application is Donley’s listed home address: 25 Gaslight Court.

Natalie Morris is a freelance correspondent.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Is this Springfield diner really 100 years old?