Who Invented The Hamburger?

Who gave the world the hamburger, arguably the most time-honored backyard cook-out and fast food chain tradition? Who should be credited as the creator and where was it introduced? One would think everything would be known and well-accepted for such a culinary icon. One would be wrong.

For many years, there have been numerous claims for the honor. Folks in New Haven, Connecticut are certain the first hamburger was served at Louis Lassen's cafe in 1900. Historians in Seymour, Wisconsin say the Connecticut claim is bogus because their man Charlie Hagreen was selling burgers to his cafe's customers in 1885. Akron, Ohio folks claim that was two years later than Frank and Charles Menches selling burgers at the Summit County Fair in in their town. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, they claim a local rancher named Oscar Weber Bilby cooked and served the first hamburgers for neighbors attending a Fourth of July shindig on his farm in 1882.

To settle the argument, one thing needs to be clarified - the definition of the All-American hamburger. All right-thinking people understand and agree it is a ground beef patty, mustard and/or mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce, pickles and onions served between two slices of a warm bun accompanied usually by an ample side of french fries and ketchup. Some may prefer onion rings as a side, but the main item in this discussion is the hamburger itself. History tells us that all of the claimants listed above simply served steak sandwiches - a piece of cooked meat held between a couple of slices of plain bread. That is most definitely NOT a hamburger.

Athens, Texas courthouse

So who actually was the first person to concoct the traditional All-American burger with the combination of ingredients we have all come to love? Fletcher Davis, a resident of little Athens, Texas (population 12,700 in 2010) about 75 miles southeast of Dallas, has the most credible claim. Not only did he use the above recipe, but his is the most well documented.

Fletcher was a potter by trade. Born in Webster Groves, Missouri, he got a job at the famous Miller Pottery Works in Athens and moved there in the mid-1880's. He was a natural and imaginative cook and it wasn't long before he was tasked with cooking at company picnics. At one of these picnics, he served the first authentic hamburger and the folks loved his new creation!  

Around 1890, the pottery business began to slow and folks in Athens turned to raising black-eyed peas. So much black-eyed pea business was conducted that today, Athens is known as the black-eyed pea capital of the world. To make ends meet, Fletcher opened a little cafe on the town square across from the county courthouse. Remembering how much the picnickers liked his sandwich, he made the hamburger, accompanied by a side of fried potato slices, the main offering in his new establishment. It wasn't long before people were coming from all around to "Old Dave's" little cafe on the town square.

In 1904, the World's Fair was to be held in St. Louis, Missouri. Fletcher decided he could make a nice profit by taking his hamburger there. The town's residents were so sure his food would be a hit they chipped in to pay his expenses. Fletcher got a vendor license, rented a house in St. Louis and traveled there with some family members. Descendants of those family members still have photo's taken during the two weeks they spent there and letters telling the folks back home about eating hamburgers at Uncle Fletch's (as he was called by his family) concession booth almost every day.

Along with the family documents, and maybe even more convincing, is the existing historical documentation. One of these documents is an official St. Louis World's Fair photo of the midway and in that photo, in the background across from an exhibit featuring Geronimo and other famous Indian warriors, is Fletcher Davis' booth where he sold his hamburgers and fried potato slices. There is also the news story filed by a reporter from the New York Tribune of the "newest gourmet discovery" at the fair, a sandwich called the hamburger. The reporter either didn't ask Fletcher for his name or forgot to write it down when he interviewed him because in the report he stated the meal was "the innovation of a food vendor on the pike" ("pike" was a term then referring to the midway at a fair or carnival). The reporter went on to describe the ingredients of the hamburger. When he interviewed Fletcher, he asked for details about the accompanying fried potato slices. Fletcher explained the hamburger was his invention, but he had borrowed the fried potato recipe from an old friend who lived in Paris. Of course, he meant Paris, Texas, but the reporter, being from New York and unfamiliar with Texas geography, assumed he meant Paris, France and so described them as "French fried potatoes."

Athens, Texas courthouse square where
Old Dave's Cafe was located

When Fletcher returned home to Athens, he found that several cafe's in town were now selling his creation. Although he kept up his little eatery for a while, he eventually closed it and returned to a pottery job with Miller Pottery and faded into happy obscurity. 

The scales are weighing heavily in favor of Athens, Texas as the place and Fletcher Davis as the right person. Adding even more weight is the company that "takes the hamburger business more seriously than anyone else," McDonald's. Their Hamburger University has declared "a food vendor at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair was the first to introduce the sandwich to the public." As we know, that vendor was Fletcher Davis.

If that's not official enough for you, know that in 2006, the Texas Legislature passed a resolution recognizing Davis as the originator of the hamburger. Case closed!

Thank you Fletcher Davis, Athens, Texas resident and former potter-turned-cook. To millions of people, and I'm one of them, your history-making-contribution to food has made the world a better place.