Old gas stations

[LizzieMaine]

The one on the bottom is a 50s era Shell station, "top hatted" in the sixties to suit a more rustic style. The chimney structure was originally sheathed in red porcelain enamel, and was much more abstract than the fake brickface added in the sixties.

 

[Fading Fast]

2jakes, great photos. Is it me, or does it almost look like the Woody Wagon was painted in as its lines are fuzzy versus the rest of the photo?

 

[tonyb]

LaGrande, Oregon ...

 

[tonyb]

Seattle, 17th & Yesler Way. (The original "skid road," by the way. And yes, in Seattle it's "road," not "row." It is the road down which logs were skidded on their way to Henry Yesler's sawmill, on the shores of Elliott Bay, hence the name. The area near the mill's erstwhile location, the Pioneer Square district, had for decades been largely neglected and became the base of operations for street bums and hookers and such, so the definition of "skid road," or "skid row," as it is usually called in other cities, came to mean a down-at-the-heel district where the less-respectable sorts might be found. Next week's lesson: the origin of "graveyard shift.")

I lived three blocks north of this location for nearly 20 years. The old gas station had been a used tire store and later a quick-and-dirty ("we prefer cash") auto repair. The service bays were in the structure in the background. The entire works has since been demolished, I've been told. Sniff.

 

[tonyb]

Yeah, no foolin'.

You know that old lament: had I known then what I know now. When I first moved into that district, properties such as the one on which that gas station then stood could be had for a song, with maybe a dance thrown in. There was a large chunk of a city block, the better part of acre, sitting vacant behind that structure, overgrown with scotch broom and blackberry vines (the ubiquitous invasive weeds out there). And this a bit more than a mile from the heart of downtown. Now, of course, the gas station is gone and that open land is covered in pavement and apartment structures. The humble little house I lived in (500 and some square feet, no basement), right up the street, has been replaced with a house that is within a whisker of the maximum height and lot coverage allowed by code.

 

[Fading Fast]

There's something about old buildings, not sure what it is, that I find very comforting !

Couldn't agree more. Nostalgia, their history, the architecture, the time period - I don't really know why they make me feel so good as I think it is all of those things and more. We just bought a Coop apartment in a 1927 apartment building and I can't explain the feeling of comfort (you chose a great adjective) I get just walking up to the apartment house.

The other day, the Super (who unfortunately just left owing to a family issue) loves old buildings too and he and I spent a half hour going through his collection of doorknobs and key hole escutcheons from tenants who threw them away during renovations (several will be finding a new role in our apartment) - best half hour of my week as it made me feel so good to just hold the heavy metal in my hand and to know that I'll be returning a few of them back to useful service in the same building they started in.

 

[tonyb]

South Broadway and Mexico Avenue East, Denver, Colorado.

Well, at least the basic structure is still there. The building could be made considerably more true to its original look without compromising the purposes to which it is currently being put. I like that it's situated at an angle to the street, obviously to accommodate drive-through traffic from both sides. That couldn't be done now, as the sidewalk and the planters and whatnot block what had been the driveway on the Broadway side.

 

[Stearmen]

This guy decided to live the dream and build his own Texaco station. Quite a few people have done similar garage builds. Don't think I would get away with that on my land! http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8044&highlight=texaco

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's close to duplicating the "Denver style" Texaco station widely used by the company from the late twenties up until the introduction of the Teague design in 1937. Aside from the front window design, the main detail he's missing are the two little ornamental structures on either side of the canopy roof. Denver stations, like the Teagues later on, were built with or without canopies depending on location and weather conditions. Here's one without a canopy from a 1929 ad:

And here's a surviving Denver Texaco in Spring Lake Michigan, remodeled into a Chinese restaurant.

 

[tonyb]

...

This is about as good a repurposing as I've seen, or at least among the least objectionable. The major design elements are still there, in the "correct" proportions.

A friend bought an old gas station property a couple of years ago (site cleanup already completed). It's one of those steel boxes with a concrete-block rear wall and a permanent steel awning above the office entrance and wrapping around the corner to cover the doors into the restrooms. Couple of big bay doors. I told him what a designer he later hired told him -- that whatever purposes it is put to, those elements had to remain. The bay doors would be windows, or rollup doors, or whatever, but those rectangles had to remain. Same with the awning, and the office windows.

 

[Stearmen]

Nice painting!

 

[dh66]

I think I've found my dream home.

 

[Bamaboots]

I think I've found my dream home.

Think you might rent a spare room?

 

[in/y]

As seen in Flemington, NJ last winter


The lettering looks to be Mobil but the design of the building I believe is Esso. Perhaps converted during the Exxon-Mobil merge.

You rarely see these still wearing their porcelain skins these days.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

Second one down is a reasonably-intact thirties Sinclair. Those deco-y pillars are unmistakable.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Second one down is a reasonably-intact thirties Sinclair. Those deco-y pillars are unmistakable.

That one is still extant; I've got some more photos of it that I'll upload here later.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

Loungers near Decatur, Ill. should take a trip to see this restored Denver-style Texaco.

 

[Stearmen]

Loungers near Decatur, Ill. should take a trip to see this restored Denver-style Texaco.

Oh, me wanty bad!

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Ooh...that is nice!

Rob