Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion 1950s gas station, where to find?

Gentlemen,

I am interested in acquiring a 50s era metal Texaco station to re-construct on my property. (although it doesn't have to be Texaco or 50s per se)

I would like to ask for any referrals or advice on how best to begin a search for a dismantled former station ... areas to look, things to be aware of, price ... etc

Any advice welcome!

Thanks

Hey thanks, if you come up from the south to Freds gas bash I will show you a metal maybe porcelain station building that has been sitting for 30 years and no one has done antthing to it , lot of glass, one bay door, you could get it cheap I bet, its about 18 miles from my house, its the type you take apart. so the balls in your court.

I'm looking for a porcelain station too. I prefer it to be Sinclair,Shell or Standard, but I'm open to about anything. I need at least 2 bays. 3 would be better. I about bought one last year but I didn't have anyplace to put it. I still don't have anyplace for it but we're getting close. Anyone know of one for sale in the midwest?
Bob

Dwaine,

Thank you for your response. I am new to this site and this field. I am looking for at least two service bays, as I have a couple of 'hot rods' I'm looking to cover.

Years ago as these 'earlier' stations were being dismantled I remember seeing disassembled stations in salvage yards.

Is there an identifiable aftermarket in these former 'kit' stations? web site etc? or are they just too big or cumbersome and thus no active trading in them?

I realize that this may be 'unanswerable' but any insights from any forum members would be appreciated.

Thanks, Steve

I recently talked to an enthusiast who rebuilt a porcelain panel station on his property. He found the station building and bought the property just to get the building parts.

There is currently on our classified ad page: http://www.oldgas.com/classifieds.html
Classic Pure gas station building architectural parts to reconstruct a station in that style. We did have a porcelain panel station advertised there years ago. We once had a wood gas station building sold through this site by the highway department that was widening a rural highway. Advertise, look around and be patient.

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

Thanks,

I appreciate the response.

Steve

There was a metal Texaco station just one block from my apartment here in Olympia, Washington when I moved in here back in 1977. The station closed in 1980 and sat vacant for a couple of years. Finally someone moved the whole building in 1982 another mile down the road to a side street piece of property where it has sat untouched for 20 years! I'll have to drive over there in the next couple of days and see how many bays it has and if there's any contact info regarding it.

Oly?? Thats close to me..if no one wants it, I will take it. if its cheap and small.
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Hubba

Ken, Thanks for the heads-up posting. If Hubba is not interested I would sure be. If ever you get by the site, good or bad, I'd be interested in your observations, love those old stations!
Steve

Steve - I am looking for A SMALL cheap station for my backyard. I dont have alot of money and its got to be small one bay or less...LOL. If the one in Oly is big enough for you and for sale..I am sure you will bring it home. I just have big dreams...gotta have dreams ya know. Have a great day.
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Hubba

Hubba,
Dreams.....OOOOH Buddy!! In my 'perfect world' I could use one with two service bays and I was kinda hoping to lay claim to being a real 'cheapster'.
Any way a station gets re-constituted is a major victory, I'm just surprised that there aren't more around. I remember seeing dismantled metal stations stacked on end in salvage yards years ago, but now that I'm looking they've become 'hens-teeth'.
Best to ya,
Steve

Has anyone seen the one on Vernon Walker's (owner of Walker Radiator) property in West Memphis?? I heard some guys in Missouri found it in a semi-trailer and it had never been assembled. It is the porcelain variety with the A.O. Smith short Firechief pumps. It is 100% original and intact on his property on I-40. It's all light up at night. If you didn't know anybetter you'd think you could pull in for full-service. Very, Very cool.
Seth

I went by the location today and here is what I found:
The station was transported complete & intact to it's current location.

It's a Texaco 2 bay building with all the doors and windows boarded up. Seems to be in good shape and appears to date in the very early 1950's. The station is stored with a bunch of construction equipment in the back half of a long, skinny fenced-in parking lot/storage lot. Located at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Pattison St in Olympia, Washington. The only signs on the property say it's a parking & storage lot with a local phone number of 360-456-8555. If a person wanted to see it, take exit 107 (Pacific Ave.) from I-5 and head west on Pacific Ave about a third of a mile till the traffic signal at Pattison St. You'll see the station at the back of the lot.


[This message has been edited by Ken Layton (edited 09-06-2003).]

Ken,

Thank you for your specific and informative 'recon' (enough to impress this old 03).
Does the station resemble the Teague designed Texaco station depicted at: www.luckymojo.com/texacostar.html ?

Thanks again,
Steve

No, it looks more like the station pictured on page 139 of the book "Roadside Memories". It's the picture at the lower right that says Memphis, Tennessee Circa 1950s. This station near me has the bays on the left side if the building and has a 3 foot high green stripe running along the top of the building that was painted on it in the mid 70's.

Ken,
The station pictured on page 139 lower right is the same as the one pictured in the link Steve posted. It just doesn't have the canopy over the drive. The one pictured in the book has an awning over the windows. There were different variations of the Teague design.
Bob

The one near me has had the canopy long gone and the service bays are on the left side of the building. Oh how I wish I had a digital camera I could post a picture of the station down the road from me.

Hi I have the panels of a 1940's porcelain enamel station. Contact me at HPSearsjr@aol.com and I'll try to send you a picture of it or one that was very much like it.
Regards HPS

I was over in Olympia over the weekend, figured I would scope out the Old Service Station that was being discussed here in this post. I took a bunch of pictures of the station but before I post them all, figured I better make sure this is the one??

That's it! The building had been remodeled a few times over the years. It used to be located in the now vacant lot (in the 2000 block) on East 4th Avenue next to Eagan's Big Tom drive-thru restaurant.

At it's current location there are warning signs posted "Do not molest the rabbits" as there are several small bunny rabbits on the property.

[This message has been edited by Ken Layton (edited 09-23-2003).]

Some Bunny loves Gas stations.
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Hubba, its me its me.

A fellow I know sold a very few pieces of broken scrap blue and white enamelized porcelein from an old gas station to a roving collector for a good bit of money, maybe as much as a one or two hundred dollars. I'm not familiar with metal only gas stations, so they could be much less expensive. I suspect that you are not going to find any bargains in SoCal. Consider cities/towns in Texas, etc. 100+ miles away from any metropolises, where the turn-over of buildings is much slower, focusing on cities/towns with <100,000 population, maybe, and perhaps you'll find more than a few empty old 50s era gas stations...but even in these smaller cities/towns, I doubt anyone will be selling a weather-tight building on the cheap as such an old gas station can at least be used for storage. Also keep in mind that moving/altering a load bearing wall of any commercial building might call for a somewhat expensive asbestos survey. I'm not a professional builder or a building mover, so take my concerns as fairly speculative. Check out my website which along with the old gas station I am still attempting to develop: www.geocities.com/amwj2001

AJ
Advice well taken. Thanks. The search continues!
Steve

Hi guys. A friend sent me these posts last fall, and maybe even pix of my 1956 vintage porcelain-coated-metal-panel Texaco station.
I'm in the process of selling my property, and I am going to remove the porcelain-panel shell from the concrete block buildings. There are two buildings: A 30 x 20 office, and a 40 x 20 3-bay shop. These are the mainly white porcelain "icebox" designs by industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague. They have the curved tops, three light green stripes (porcelain), and the dark green bottoms (also porcelain). The same design is shown on page 60 of Robert Ball's Texaco Collectibles book.

There are panels on the front, and both sides of the office, and the front, and right-hand side of the shop. Some panels have some paint (just one or two coats, and just in spots), which isn't very hard to remove from that ultra-smooth porcelain (melted glass). There are some non-original holes here and there, which would have to be filled for full restoration. The fasteners for the origial red stars and letters, and black letters above the shop doors are still in place--the stars and letters are long gone. The fasteners still indicate "Marfak Lubrication" above door #3.

I will most likely remove the panels in April, and I'll photograph the existing structures, number the panels as they come off, and measure and photograph the concrete block remains.

The labor to remove, number, stack, and store will be significant. I figure that my asking price will be about $4500.00 in Spokane, WA. I just thought you guys should have first notice, as when I've got them ready to market, I'll advetise beyond here.

Just a correction to my previous post--the first line should read,"and even sent this board pix..."--guess I should proofread.

Hubba, Is one bay enough for those hubcaps

LOL jeff...maybe in a lil bit..i am trying to move them quick..i WANT my garage bak..hahahaha..Thanks :-)

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Hubba the GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK of Shoreline WA

bikexprt,
Shoot me an email with some pics of you buildings.
Thanks, Bob
Lastgas15@aol.com

I have looked high and low for a station to take down and re-build. I finally gave up and am now building a station. I found a company to make the panels and hired a contractor. We are building a fifties Pure station in my back yard.
What I found out for thought is this: Whatever size you find you will HAVE TO duplicate, most of the old stations had off size doors and so on. Also no two stations are alike in the size of the panels, so mix and match is really tough. Gulf used a different size than Sinclair and so on.
My contractor is willing to build fifties stations in the near future. We are looking into this very strongly along with the company that is making my panels.
We will post pics of our progress here at old gas.