Historical Background return to top ▲įor early motorists, refueling was rarely convenient and often dangerous. Photo: Utah State Historical Society, used by permission, all rights reserved. Although hardly an ideal sales system, pumps and underground tanks along the curb were an improvement over the earliest filling stations where gasoline was poured from hand containers. Such work minimizes unnecessary alterations and ensures that the building continues to contribute to the character and vitality of its community.įigure 2. The unique features and characteristics that define historic gas stations can be respected and preserved through sensitive maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation. This Brief also describes appropriate rehabilitation treatments, including conversion for new functions when the historic use is no longer feasible. This Preservation Brief provides guidance on assessing the significance of historic gas stations and encourages their preservation by providing information on the maintenance and repair of existing structures. Once spurned as out of place incursions or eyesores, historic stations are increasingly appreciated for their contribution to the character of a neighborhood, and the way they are easily adapted for new uses. They have even been included on statewide endangered property lists. Small buildings and small lots, unresolved environmental issues, and a relentless push for standardization are all challenges to the continuing use of historic gas station properties.Īcross the United States, however, gas stations are slowly being rediscovered for their historic significance. Interstates have routed traffic away from once-thriving gas stations on what are now secondary roads. Changing land use patterns have concentrated new development along commercial strips beyond the downtown and neighborhood locations where many historic stations survive. Many of these now historic gas stations are deteriorating or abandoned (Figure 1). This 1930s station in Milwaukee, WI, was later rehabilitated for use as a coffee shop. Yet sensitive rehabilitations can ensure that the historic character of these buildings is preserved while providing for an economic reuse. Abandoned historic gas stations have in the past been viewed as a hindrance to the redevelopment of a neighborhood or community.
They are a reflection of car culture, pop culture, corporate standardization, and an era of customer service that today seems quaint.įigure 1. Surviving historic stations are physical reminders of the transportation revolution and the influence of increased mobility on the landscape. They are one of America’s most common commercial building types and are emblematic of the twentieth century. Yet, for the past hundred years gas stations have occupied prime locations on main streets and suburban corners, on small town roads, and along early highways. Unless your tank is empty, gasoline stations rarely attract attention.
PRESERVATION BRIEFS 46 The Preservation and Reuse of Historic Gas Stations American Petroleum Institute Photograph and Film Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
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