Old gas stations

[LizzieMaine]

I was kind of hoping there would be some effort toward preservation for our place while there was still something left to preserve -- the Teague-style Texaco building is considered a major landmark in American commercial architecture by one of the most important figures in 20th Century industrial design, and out of more than 10,000 that were built, very very few remain in unmolested form. But nobody cares about that stuff when there's real estate to sell.

I suppose I should be thankful it's still standing at all. There was a very nice specimen of an ice-box style Esso station just up the street from us (we lived behind this station for a while when I was very small) but the local Marine Museum bought the property from the local jobber in the late '90s, evicted the guy who was running it, and tore the building down -- specifically because one guy on the museum board thought it spoiled the view from the museum building. The operator had been running it for almost 40 years by that time, and was left jobless. A worse example of bourgie-gentrification arrogance I cannot name.

 

[tonyb]

I don’t know which brand they were back when they were gas stations, but there’s a few remaining structures around here that retain the large triangular awnings that covered the pumps. The awnings slope upward from the main building and come to a sharp(ish) point.

One I can think of right off the top o’ my head is now an independent auto repair shop; another is an espresso joint (natcherly).

 

[LizzieMaine]

Flying A and Phillips 66 both went in for those pointy canopies in the early sixties.

 

[tonyb]

Am I correct in assuming the Teague you reference was Walter Dorwin Teague?

He designed some groovy stuff.

 

[Frunobulax]

As far as I know they were. It pumped gas all thru its time as a convenience store, and the pumps were taken out at the same time they took down the procelain panels, which is well within the current regulations.

There may be a tank still buried on the lot where used motor oil was dumped -- I never saw any evidence they'd dug that one up, although the fuel tanks themselves are long gone. The lot has been repaved, and while I have a general idea of where that tank was, I doubt I could pinpoint it now.

They are undoubtedly gone. With regs and laws now, if that property has changed hands, they were removed. Especially if a bank was involved. There's a slight chance they were filled with concrete, but I doubt it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yup, the same. He started working for Texaco in 1934, and his design became the standard one for all the company's stations for nearly thirty years. It also inspired copycat designs at practically every other major oil company -- the "icebox with bays" style didn't exist until Teague created it.

He wrote an absolutely fascinating and rather bizarre book in 1940 called "Design This Day," in which he discusses the theories underlying his work -- which had as much to do with metaphysics as they did with architecture. He noted the significance of the five-pointed star, a la Texaco, as having considerable importance in both disciplines.

 

[tonyb]

Artists are allowed their flights of fancy.

I’m a member of the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Arts in downtown Denver. The fine arts there are certainly worth one’s while, but for aficionados of industrial design it’s a veritable Mecca.

Teague stuff is in the collections. He certainly was a man of his time. If I had to slot him into any stylistic category, I’d choose streamline moderne, but I’m glad I’m under no obligation to do so. I doubt he would have felt such an obligation himself.

The friend’s gas station structure to which I alluded a few posts back is strongly “inspired” by the Teague-designed Texaco stations. It’s an almost minimal design, and the elements balance one another perfectly. Each of those major elements is necessary to that balance.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Joe's place.

Rob

 

[BobHufford]

Sorry if this is a repeat. How often is a gas station put on the National Register of Historic Places?

 

[Trenchfriend]

Sorry if this is a repeat. How often is a gas station put on the National Register of Historic Places?

View attachment 206964

Haha, so much 70s design, like in former GDR!!

 

[BobHufford]

Something in a similar style, but more curves. Originally built as a gas (petrol) station in 1960-61, then a Little Chef, now a Starbucks. "It was nearly demolished in 2004 but has been revived and is currently a Starbucks. It’s in the U.K. in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands. The roof was awarded grade ll listed status in 2012."

 

[BobHufford]

I find so many historic local photos that are just outside of what I want to see. This photo of West Sunshine Street in Springfield, Missouri in 1963 shows the sign of my wife's Granddad's Standard station, but not the building. Maybe someday Google Street view will recreate the past and I can just rotate the view to see it.

The building is still there (and we still own it). Currently a used car lot with the blue awning.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Oops.

Rob

 

[BobHufford]

Might be a re-run. This corner has changed a bit since the early 1960s. Springfield, MO.

Especially the right side (Bass Pro Shops' "Granddaddy" store and Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium):

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I use the Tapatalk app to post images, but it's been down since last weekend... I'm hoping that they get the problem fixed, as navigating the web forums is difficult on my smartphone.

Rob

 

[BobHufford]

Kirkwood, Missouri, 1940. Fill 'er up...

 

[BobHufford]

St. Louis, 1940.

 

[3fingers]

St. Louis, 1940.

I wonder what his plan is for getting that barrel down off the island and moved somewhere after he fills it.

 

[BobHufford]

I wonder what his plan is for getting that barrel down off the island and moved somewhere after he fills it.

Get the other guys to do it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's not an "approved container!"