History Of Pizza Lane:

Billy Lane started in the pizza business in 1972 when he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, to join his uncle Raymond Smith in one of the first Pizza Inn franchises. After 5 years, homesick for his native Sumter, South Carolina, Billy and his family moved back home. It was then that he decided to open his own pizza business. Borrowing money from relatives and buying much of his equipment used, after two years and a lot of work, he opened Pizza Inn July 9th, 1979.

This house once occupied the site of Pizza Lane at 460 Broad Street. It was built in the late 1800's as a one story residence just outside what was then the city limits of Sumter. A family named Ridgill purchased the property, added a second story to the house and ran a dairy farm here. They sold the farm in 1928 to Robert and Martha Graham and their young son Beau. He helped plant the pecan trees that are now on the school grounds adjoining the restaurant property. Beau Graham became mayor of Sumter. In 1936 the house was used as a children's home. It became the offices of School District 17 in 1941. The property is now owned by Billy W. Lane, owner and operator of Pizza Lane.

After being open for 12 years, Billy decided to remodel his pizza place into a theme restaurant. He wanted the theme to be Old Sumter. He tried to collect all the Sumter memorabilia he could find for his new idea. He then contacted Doug Moore, a cabinet maker and antique dealer, to totally remodel the dining area to represent Old Sumter. After 7 months of remodeling, they had a grand reopening to show off the changes....

Short article below was printed in Coronet magazine in December of 1953.
All set for an afternoon's fun, Billy Lane, 11 marched into the movies (in Sumter, SC) clutching a bag of popcorn in one hand and several exploding torpetoes in the other. Somehow the torpedos got mixed in with the popcorn-and he munched on one by mistake. "I never got a kick like that out of popcorn before," admitted Billy, after a doctor had patched up his mouth.

See what Billy does in his spare time.
If you have enjoyed the scenery at the restaurant,
you'll love what you see in Billy's Country Store!

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