Vintage Texaco gas station draws growing number of visitors

Ever since it was restored, the vintage Texaco gas station in Rawlins has turned into quite the hidden attraction. Motorists from all around will on occasion stop, snap photos and tour the place. Located on the city’s main thoroughfare, the historic building includes original gas pumps and indoor exhibits. Photo by Ray K. Erku, Rawlins Times

From the Gillette News Record: RAWLINS — What illuminates the night with its bright-red, manually-operated pumps and its iconic Texaco sign, there’s a gas station in Rawlins that keeps motorists stopping for everything other than a quick fill up.

Found on E. Cedar Street, the Hays Texaco Station, a neatly-restored house of petrol originally built in 1920, is like putting the shifter in reverse and accelerating far enough until you reach James Dean.

At least, according to the Hays, the family who owns the station and has operated the same area truck-hauling business for the past 100 years, this place is simply a vintage piece of uncut Americana.

Read More

7 things you might not know about Lancaster County’s Lincoln Highway, America’s first toll road

This file photo, circa 1930s, shows a car nearing a toll house on New Holland Pike, one of several turnpikes in the early days of Lancaster County motoring. File photo

From LNP – LancasterOnline: The road we know as Route 30 East started its life as the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike. It was built by a private company – The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road Company – because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania couldn’t afford the construction cost of $465,000 (which would amount to about $9.5 million today).

Read More

Route 66 Convention Sparks Ideas Statewide

From News9: OKLAHOMA CITY – City leaders and business owners along Route 66 in Oklahoma were in the metro discussing ways to better promote the “Mother Road.”
The state’s inaugural Route 66 Convention was held at the Oklahoma History Center Tuesday, December 3. Stakeholders from all over the state broke into groups to discuss better ways their cities can cash in the on the historic road.
The idea for this convention came from Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, who feels the state can do more to promote Route 66.

This gas station was just another abandoned building. Now it’s eye-popping op art

Photo: courtesy Justkids

From Fast Company: Fort Smith—the second-largest city in Arkansas—lies on the border of Oklahoma and boasts a modest 88,000 residents. The city, named for its 19th-century military outpost for the western frontier, is known for landmarks like its Riverfront Amphitheater and Belle Grove Historic District, a 22-block stretch of 25 restored, historic homes. Recently, a group of artists and curators gave the city a new landmark: a deserted, 1950s-era gas station, reimagined by French artist Camille Walala as a vibrant urban destination covered in op art-style graphics.

Read More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Post comment