The Porky Pig Diner.

Charles Johnson is as common to the place as the countless pigs that line the walls and shelves of the Porky Pig Diner. He didn’t order anything, but his breakfast arrived shortly after he sat down in his seat at the “table of knowledge,” as co-owner Calvin Durham calls it.

Durham had a dream to own his own business.

“He told me he bought it for me and I told him not to buy me anything else,” said his wife and partner Ramona Durham.

A neon pig hangs in the front window and acts as a call beacon to the hungry. They stop in for the popular catfish platter or just to hang with their buddies over breakfast. If you’re looking to eat in Pig, Ky., the Durhams have a monopoly going. The Porky Pig Diner is the only joint in town.

Conversation at the “table of knowledge” is filled with stories of wrecks, motors for sale, family, oil drilling and whatever else slips off the tongue. A ring dangled on Johnson’s thin finger as he moved the black cup of joe in for a sip. The table swelled to five but still held two vacancies, as men rolled in to talk and eat.

The Durhams are at the diner more than they are at home, putting in 80 plus hours a week. They eat most of their meals at table 13 at the diner, which rests just past the junction of Kentucky 422 and 259 on Park Boundary Road in Edmonson County.

Brian Wagner is a senior photojournalism major from Knoxville, Tenn. He can be reached at [email protected].