I remember this restaurant
opening in Chauncey Hill Mall and found this information on the internet about
its demise! Beverly Shaw October 12, 2011
October, 1983
The Indiana Secretary of State's
office stepped in to stop what appeared to be a rabbit-ranching scam. The
situation surfaced early in the year when Richard Stewart opened the first
Hop-Scotch Restaurant, a fast-food eatery specializing in fried rabbit, in West
Lafayette's Chauncey Hill Mall.
Stewart and his wife, Barbara, hoped to sell
rabbit ranches under Rex Rabbit Development Company, then buy the rabbits
produced, sell pelts to furriers and meat to retailers and restaurants.
More
than 150 ranchers bought two bucks and 20 does for about $6,000 to get started,
having been guaranteed a market for rabbits that did not exist.
The Hop-Scotch
closed in October and the Stewarts filed for bankruptcy.
WEST LAFAYETTE'S HISTORY began in the early 19th Century yet much of the town - now city's - history remains untold. Residents current and former are both welcome to contribute to this blog and to the Library's collection of West Lafayette Memories.
