I recently completed Phase One of the restoration & rehabilitation of a 1938 Cities Service gas station in downtown Marshall, Texas. The station is a Tudor, cottage-style structure. The main building is 320 sq ft and has four rooms (one tiny interior restroom and a larger outside access restroom). Thanks to vintage photographs and the stories from local old-timers, I've been able to pretty much return the station to it's original appearance. In Phase Two, I plan to try and replace the original signage, the metal awnings over the front windows, and install two period gas pumps out front. The detached wash bay is totally completed except for trying to clear the drain (which may be impossible).
It would appear that Cities Service built dozens, if not hundreds, of these stations .. almost all pretty much identical (maybe the floor plan was sometimes reversed). I've identified them in four Texas locations, also in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. I'd love to hear from folks who can provide the location of identical existing stations and photos would be fantastic.
Photos of my station can be found at
http://www.thisoldservicestation.com If you have information for me and/or photos, you can use the "contact" page of the site or just send an email to me through this forum.
