McGinnis Service Station - Collierville, TN Located on the town square in Colliersville, this former gas station property has a preserved old-fashioned brick overhang where vehicles could drive into a cut in the buildings corner. The gas pumps are old, but not quite as vintage as many I've seen
Hamptons of Skullbone, TN Skullbone is a small community in West Tennessee located at the intersection of highway TN105 and Shades Bridge Rd. Or, perhaps a better explanation is: This is Skullbone, TN. The main (or only) attraction in Skullbone is Hampton's General Store, a building from 1898 which over the years also served as a post office, gas station, City Hall and Mayors Office. Under the awning, we read that the store (addressed as 102 Davy Crockett Ave. North) has been owned by Landon & Ruby since 1964. By reading around the awning, we also see that Skullbone is the "Capital City of Skullbonia." So, Where did the name Skullbone come from? For that, we look at the murals on the side of the store. This region was home to the "Undefeated Champions of Bareknuckle fist and Skullbone Fighting: Hence the name Skullbone." Want to learn more about Skullbone? Check out this website, which includes the text of an interesing letter. In 1952, the locals wrote a jovial letter to TN Governor Browning petitioning the state to officially recognize the kingdom of Skullbonia. tn-roots.com/tngibson/towns/Skullbone/skullbonia.htm Hello to anyone who found this here: www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/pretty-small-towns-tn/ These 12 Perfectly Picturesque Small Towns In Tennessee Are Delightful or here www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/funny-phrases-tn/ or here: www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/eccentric-tn-town/ or here: www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/welcoming-small-towns-tn/ 15 Welcoming Small Towns In Tennessee Where You’ll Feel Like Family
The Station - Pure Art In McMinnville, TN, an old Pure Oil Gas Station just a couple of blocks from the county courthouse has been preserved and converted into some kind of art place. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Spring Street Service Station. It was built in the 1930s for Pure Oil, designed by Carl August Petersen.
Model Train Display #3 Esso gas station This set of model train pictures comes from inside the display window at what was formerly the Palace Theater (and is now the Palace Barber) at the Town Square in Murfreesboro, TN.
Springfield Used Cars Looks like a really really old gas station that was converted into a used car lot. Along Main St. (old U.S. 41 and 431) south of the town square in Springfield, TN. Has hand-painted slogans all around the front. (see my notes for what they say.) UPDATE: I believe this old gas station has now been torn down. It did look like it was in bad shape back in 2008.
Miller's Grocery an old time store in Christiana, TN This is no longer an Amoco or even a gas station. It's not really a grocery store, either. Instead, today it is a popular restaurant and probably the only reason that people from out of town come to Christiana. Hello to anyone who found this here: www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/tn-general-stores/ These 10 Charming General Stores In Tennessee Will Make You Feel Nostalgic This piece of the past is a large draw for the town of Christiana, but don't expect to stock up on milk. It operates mainly now as a restaurant.
Vintage Cowan, TN Texaco the local vinatge gas station has been preserved and now is used as a museum and tourist welcome center. This station is located near the important transportation intersection of highway US 41A (and formerly US54) before the ascent to Sewanee and the CSX train line before it begins its ascent to the Cumberland Mtn Tunnel. The station still has three gas pumps, one for sky cheif and 2 for fire chief. In the service station, the museum has a 1936 Ford and a 1950 Ford Cowan has also preserved one of it's old fire engines that still gets the job when the call comes in. This photo was used here: nicolsche.deviantart.com/art/Highway-Nymph-176740022?q=ga...
Cowan, TN Texaco sign Does it seem wrong that a preserved sign from the 50's has been modified with a modern electric sign advertising a DVD?
Fernvale Shell For many years, highway TN96 ran through the tiny community of Fernvale, TN in Williamson County. When traffic was routed onto a more modern highway, the station here was soon abandoned. Over the years, some friends and I would use this building, which used to be very run-down, as a landmark for driving directions to get to a cabin. the instructions would say "Turn left at the abandoned gas station." Then, about 10 years ago, someone bought the place, fixed it up, and turned it into a small country market. It must have been short-lived as now it looks like a private residence.
Standard Filling Station #1 - Bowling Green, KY Standard Oil of Kentucky purchased this lot in 1921 and built what is believed to be the first filling station in the area. Many filling stations of the 1920 were built at intersection corners and designed at a 45 degree angle to catch the attention of passing motorists. This station sold gas until 1956 when it became a used car lot and then a gospel music store. Restoration was completed in 2008 where the Standard Oil sign and Wayne gas pumps are replicas. The Eco 44 Air pump is original. The building is located in downtown Bowling Green at the corner of College St. @ 7th Ave. and the area is now Circus Square Park.
Lynchburg, TN Welcome Center Located at the corner of TN55 and the turn to the Lynchburg town square, the welcome center is a converted and restored vintage Texaco gas station, along with its Fire Chief pump. I am not sure what kind of wood-sided vintage wagon is parked here. It has the logo of Jack Daniels and the Lynchburg Hardware Store. Also, an old whiskey barrel is used as a flower planter.
Carlin's Amoco Station - Roanoke, VA Located at 1721 Williamson Rd. (US11) in Roanoke, this appears to be a well maintained vintage gas station & auto mechanic. From Wikipedia: Carlin's Amoco Station is a historic Amoco service station located at Roanoke, Virginia. It was built about 1947, and remodeled about 1953 in the Streamline Moderne style. The one-story gas station is constructed of concrete block covered with stucco and sits on a concrete slab foundation. Also on the property is an associated repair shop constructed about 1947. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
Mobil neon sign Pegasus For years, the winged horse Pegasus has been the logo for Mobil Gas. When my dad was a young boy growing up in Dallas, the neon Pegasus lit up the night sky atop the tallest building downtown. This neon Pegasus is located at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY.
Lion Oil - Nashville
Houston Astros Home Run Pump While the Astros are not my team, I did visit their stadium in 2019, a year they went to the World Series. Here is a feature I enjoyed, the Home Run Pump. It is fashioned after a vintage gas pump. Where the price would be, it displays a count of all of the home runs hit by the Astros in this ballpark, at 1851 on this day. The gas company has changed over the years, but today it is Phillips 66.
Old Texaco Ad barn This is quite an old, faded advertisement mounted on a barn near Dickson, TN. This as was meant to reach westbound travelers on Interstate 40 before exit 172. Alas, this is quite a busy area today and the Texaco appears to be no more. If you can't read it, it has the Texaco logo at top. the next line, which has been partially covered up to keep the tractors from being exposed to the elements has GROC NEXT EXIT BEER As I was driving down I-40, I wondered if I saw this the way I thought I did out of the corner of my eye, and I spent the next 30 minutes hunting down this barn. Hello to anyone who found this here: www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/ten-terrifying-tn/ 10 Terrifying Things In Tennessee That Can (And Just Might) Kill You
Pure Gasoline neon sign This early neon sign is on display at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati. According to their notes: The early 1930s art deco neon sign features a ripple tin cabinet and an intricate neon ribbon logo border. Sign was manufactured by Flexlume Sign Corp., Buffalo, NY. Neon was restored, including the Italian imported "Gasoline" tubing which simulates what would have originally been noviol gold glass.
Nicest Restrooms on I-65 I've seen advertising barns for many different products over the years, but never for the cleanest bathrooms until I found this one. Perhaps in the golden age of automobile travel, this was a more common sight. This barn is in Kentucky but under 10 miles north of the Tennessee Border. It's visible to northbound traffic just past the weigh station. The next exit is highway 100 and there's a Shell Sudden Service gas station there.
Original neon Mobil Pegasus - Dallas, TX My dad once told me how as a child growing up in Dallas in the 50's, he could see this neon Pegasus illuminating the skyline. It was rotating atop the tallest building in town. Mobil Oil owned that building for their headquarters and they used the winged horse Pegasus as their logo. Originally, the building was owned by the Magnolia Petroleum Company and the Pegasus was erected in 1934. After a merger with Mobil, they kept the Mobil name and the Magnolia Pegasus. Over the years, the Pegasus became a symbol for the city of Dallas. Eventually Mobil moved out of the building, and in 1999 it became the Magnolia Hotel. By that point, the sign already had severe mechanical problems. in 1999, it was taken down for repair, but they found it's problems too extensive for a quick repair. In its place, a new Pegasus was placed atop the Hotel, and was first illuminated at midnight of the new millennium. Fast forward to 2015, the original Pegasus underwent a complete restoration. It can now be seen atop a replica oil derrick in front of the Omni Hotel downtown. For the full story: interactives.dallasnews.com/2015/pegasus/
New neon Magnolia Pegasus - Dallas, TX My dad once told me how as a child growing up in Dallas in the 50's, he could see this neon Pegasus illuminating the skyline. It was rotating atop the tallest building in town. Mobil Oil owned that building for their headquarters and they used the winged horse Pegasus as their logo. Originally, the building was owned by the Magnolia Petroleum Company and the Pegasus was erected in 1934. After a merger with Mobil, they kept the Mobil name and the Magnolia Pegasus. Over the years, the Pegasus became a symbol for the city of Dallas. Eventually Mobil moved out of the building, and in 1999 it became the Magnolia Hotel. By that point, the sign already had severe mechanical problems. in 1999, it was taken down for repair, but they found it's problems too extensive for a quick repair. In its place, a new Pegasus was placed atop the Hotel, and was first illuminated at midnight of the new millennium. Fast forward to 2015, the original Pegasus underwent a complete restoration. It can now be seen atop a replica oil derrick in front of the Omni Hotel downtown. For the full story: interactives.dallasnews.com/2015/pegasus/
College Inn Gas Station - Athens, AL In 1933, College Inn was one of the first gas station in Athens, AL.It was a gulf station and lunch counter popular with Athens State University students. It was designed in a prairie style station, and only one other exists in Alabama. When the highway was re-routed, the gas station closed. The land was sold to a nearby church, who donated the buildings to the city. The buildings were relocated to East street next to Big Springs Park. Vintage gas pumps and signs have been added as it is now a museum and local beautification office.
Baxter Springs Phillips 66 From Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_Springs_Independent_Oil_and_... The Baxter Springs Independent Oil and Gas Service Station is a historic gas station located at 940 Military Avenue in Baxter Springs, Kansas, along the former route of U.S. Route 66. The station was built in 1930 by the Independent Oil and Gas Company; the company merged with Phillips Petroleum the following year, and the station became a Phillips 66 station. The station was designed in the Tudor Revival style so to resemble a small cottage; this style was popular among gas stations at the time, as oil companies wanted their stations to fit in with nearby residential architecture. An addition which served as an auto repair shop was added to the station between 1930 and 1942. Phillips operated the station until 1958, and it continued to sell gasoline until the 1970s. The building now serves as the Kansas Route 66 Visitors Center. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 29, 2003.
Dairy King - Commerce, OK This former Marathon Gas Station along Route 66 in Commerce, OK is today home to Dairy King. There are two gas pumps preserved on the left with a modern ice cream cone up top. Below the awning, they proclaim: One and only Route 66 Cookies Sold Anywhere. They use a cookie cutter to shape the cookie like a highway shield, then use a branding iron to softly burn a US 66 into the cookie.
Vintage Phillips 66 on Route 66 - Chandler, OK At the link below, there is a story about new owners who last year bought this vintage cottage-style gas station and have begun preservation efforts. They also have a facebook page as "Westfall Station" www.route66news.com/2021/10/08/new-owners-get-busy-restor... The station originally opened in 1930 as Phillips 66 station No. 1423 and operated for about 60 years. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
Douglas Grocery - Chandler, OK This former Route 66 gas station and grocery store is located at a 90 degree bend of the highway in Chandler, OK. The roof and canopy have been replaced over the years, but the gas pump is believed to be original. The service bay has been bricked off. I like the old metal signs in the middle. The Fairmont Ice Cream sign in the middle includes the name Douglas Grocery. To the left are &-up, S&H Green Stamps and Pepsi. The smaller signs on the right include Sprite, Norka Cherry-Strawberry, Sinclair and Dixie Gasoline. On the far right is a Route 66 Roadside Attraction sign. This was from the Hampton Hotels Save-a-Landmark program, but probably moved here.
Cities Service Station No. 8 - Tulsa, OK The Cities Service Station #8, at 1648 SW Boulevard (along Route 66) in Tulsa, OK, was built in 1940 by Cities Service in the Modern Movement architecture style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
World's Tallest Gas Pump Completed in 2018, this is a modern tourist attraction located along Route 66 on the west side of Sapulpa, OK. It advertises the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum, which is slightly off the old Route - they needed something tall to get your attention. Learn more: www.roadsideamerica.com/story/59598
Abandoned 100 year old Route 66 gas station with Counterfeiting operation This spot is about 3 miles east of Arcadia along Route 66. Here is the text of the site's description in the little white box in the middle. Historic Route 66 Site This is one of the last old gasoline stations still standing in this part of the country. No one knows for sure, but it is thought to have been built in the late teens or early twenties. It had two pumps, one for regular gas and one for ethyl, which was a little higher octane. Oil was dispensed from a 50-gallon drum, which was laid down on its side on a wooden frame. A spigot was put in the end of the drum, under which you would put a quart can, then taken to your car and put in the motor. Seeing there was no electricity out here at the time, most homes and buildings were lighted by kerosene lamps or lanterns. Kerosene was dispensed the same way oil was, from a metal drum, put in your container and take home. Cold soda pop was sold only on days when the ice man made it by. The pop was put in a large metal box with chipped ice over it. Hard candy was sold most of the time; chocolate was sold only in the winter, because in the summer it would melt - since there were no refrigerators. Back then, times were hard and it was difficult to make a living. One day, about the time Al Capone was terrorizing the City of Chicago, a so-called salesman came by the station, offering to sell the owners a way to make a lot of money, literally, for he had a set of plates for a counterfeit ten dollar bill. The story goes that the people yielded to temptation, with the thought of being able to get rich quick. A small room was constructed in the back of the old station for the purpose of hiding the printing materials and a place to work. The only entrance was through the window you see on the back wall of the station. The window had a solid wooden door, which was kept closed most of the time. People didn't even know there was a room back there. The way the counterfeiting was done was that they would press one of the plates on a piece of paper with green ink on it, then let that side dry for 24 hours, and print the back side of the bill the next day. Things went along just fine for a time, but while passing one of the fake ten dollar bills, one of the persons was arrested, and with the identification on him where he lived, he was traced to the old station. While searching the building, the counterfeit plates were found. So ended this crime spree, like so many others. The person being taken to jail was overheard to say, "it wasn't worth it!" The old station was closed, never to open again. Many years later, which had nothing to do with the counterfeiting, a murder victim was found in the old abandoned building. Police were unable to determine whether he was killed here or the body just dumped. The victim was never identified, for he had no identification on him and no one seemed to know him. Please be careful entering this fragile old building. The Owners Rock of Ages Farm
Rose Service Station - Tazewell, TN Rose's Gulf Service Station is a well-preserved 1930 gas station on the east side of Tazewell. It operates as a small museum, but usually not open. Still, as you look around, there are vintage signs, pumps, and other things you'd see at a 90 year old service station. It's located along the old alignment of highway US25E, but the vintage neon GULF in the back faces the new highway.
Phillips Cottage Style Gas Station - Tulsa, OK This 90 year old gas station was relocated to the Route 66 Village in Tulsa. Learn more here: www.route66village.com/derrick-gas-station-pumpjacks
Allen's Conoco - Route 66 - Commerce, OK Allen's Conoco Fillin' Station in Commerce was built ca. 1930 by F.D. Mitchell as a place for travelers to stop along the newly paved Route 66. While it served Conoco fuel gas for the first few years, it became a Phillips 66 Gas Station in 1938. It is rumored that Bonnie & Clyde may have stopped for gas here. Since the green cottage style gas station is built against a red brick wall, it's also known as the "Hole in the Wall Conoco Station." It was closed for many years but was purchased and refurbished as a beloved photo op known for its vibrant green paint with red trim. As a personal note, this is my last Oklahoma or Route 66 photo I'll be uploading for a while. I guess that just means I have to get back out there.
Bubba's Fillin Station Cafe - Old Ford Firetruck This vintage fire truck was placed within the last year at Bubba's Fillin Station Cafe. The restaurant is located in an old mechanics garage along highway TN100 at Old Bon Air Road in Hickman County. Previously, they were located in an old gas station along TN100 closer to Lyles.
Loving Oil & Gas neon sign - Dallas This vintage gas station sign is located at 4600 East Grand Ave. in the Jubilee Park neighborhood of Dallas. I believe the sign dates back the 40s and not part of a chain. It appears to have not been a gas station for a long time and the current owners have the area fenced off. The neon tubes are still gone, but I'm glad the this has never been repainted.
Abandoned Route 66: Hinton Junction Service Station Hinton Junction is a spot along old Route 66 which intersects with highway US281 in Caddo County, OK. In the early 1940s, ED Enze built a 24 hour service station, cafe and five room motel, which was called Hinton Junction Courts and Cafe. About 20 years later in 1962, this business was shut down as the creation of Interstate 40 caused motorists to no longer pass through here. I'm not sure if the Propane truck has been here since the 1960s, but it adds to the ambiance.
Marak Station - Route 66 - Adrian, TX This is one of the many abandoned gas stations along Route 66, this one is in Adrian, TX. It features Art Deco design elements such as a serrated parapet topping the façade. The canopy is flat with curved tipped beams jutting from the wall was was common for Texaco stations.
Lucille's Place / Provine Service Station This Route 66 landmark is on the National Register of Historic Places. A restaurant keeping the name has located a few miles away in Weatherford. I also made a video of the Route 66 drive leaving east from here into El Reno along some of the original pavement. youtu.be/B74uo-UEdgM?si=YBytsPgYfqJpvZ4E en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provine_Service_Station The Provine Service Station (later the Hamons Court, Hamons' Service Station or simply Lucille's Place) is a historic filling station on U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma. Located a half-mile south of Hydro, Oklahoma and operated by Lucille Hamons from 1941 until her death on August 18, 2000, the site was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Lucille Hamons' generous assistance to motorists on U.S. Route 66 during hard economic times at the end of the Great Depression would make her a US Route 66 legend, earning the nickname "Mother of the Mother Road." History Opened by Carl Ditmore in 1929, this is one of the few remaining examples of a two-story fuel station with the owner's residence situated above the pumps on an upper floor. W.O. and Ida Waldroup changed the name to Provine Service Station after buying the station in 1934 and would later add tourist cabins to provide five motel rooms on-site. Lucille and Carl Hamons acquired the Provine Station in 1941, a few months before the US entry into World War II. Mobilization for war brought wartime rationing of fuel and tires, causing civilian traffic on the highway to decline. Carl Hamons worked as an independent trucker, leaving Lucille to operate the station and the motel. Traffic on US 66 would then increase substantially during the 1950s and 1960s, only to vanish with the completion of Interstate 40 in the area in 1971. "After Carl got a truck to earn more money, I was alone here to run this place. During this time, people from Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and eastern Oklahoma were travelling the road to the West Coast to find jobs. ... Many times I would have people stop that were completely broke, and I would feed them and give them gas in exchange for some appliance or other articles of value they might have. Sometimes I would just buy their old broke-down cars, and then they would catch the bus and head on west looking for work." — Lucille Hamons After the highway was bypassed, the motel closed and Carl and Lucille would divorce but Lucille's would continue to serve a largely local clientele. The station became known for vending very cold beer from its old cooler at a time when nearby Weatherford, Oklahoma (home of Southwestern Oklahoma State University) was officially a dry town. The last fuel was dispensed in 1986 and the station ultimately became a souvenir shop, with demand in the 1990s driven largely by nostalgia surrounding a road which by then had become not merely a decommissioned highway but a powerful symbol of a bygone era. The original "Hamons Court" motel sign was donated by the Hamons family in 2003 to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where it is now displayed as part of an exhibition on "America on the Move".
Robert L. More - Vernon, TX This gas station was built in 1914 and bought by Robert L. More in 1933. It also served as a auto mechanic and tire shop. While the business has been closed for a long time, apparently the 2nd floor housed More's personal bird collection as a private museum. A vintage Gulf station appears in the background. This main road through town is both highways US70 and US287.
1948 Dodge Fuel Truck - Clinton, OK Located in Clinton, OK at the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, this 1948 Dodge Fuel Truck has been painted orange with Phillips 66 logos. Here is the text of the marker provided by the museum: This 1948 Dodge B1-C 3/4 ton fuel truck featured a standard 108 horsepower flathead - straight 6 engine - with cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft. This series was manufactured from 1948 to 1953 and replaced the pre-war Dodge truck.
Canute Service Station on Route 66 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_Service_Station The Canute Service Station is a historic service station located along former U.S. Route 66 in Canute, Oklahoma. The service station was built in two sections; the western section opened in 1936 as a roadhouse, while the service station itself was added in 1939. The station was designed in the Pueblo Deco style, an architectural style which blended elements of the Art Deco and Pueblo Revival styles. The Pueblo Deco style was most popular in the Southwest, particularly among businesses on Route 66 looking to attract westbound travelers. The service station's Pueblo Deco elements include its stucco exterior, its castellated parapet decorated with tile diamonds, and its red tile roof. The service station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 9, 1995.
Kupka's Service Station - Canute, OK Located along Route 66 in Canute, Kupka Service Station was once a Texaco but also Sinclair before it was abandoned. The streamlines Art Moderne design has three green bands which form curved canopy corners and metal facing at the base of the roof.
Tower Station and U-Drop Inn - Shamrock, TX Lengthy description here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Drop_Inn Along Route 66 Built 1936, no other cafes within 100 miles at the time. Greyhound bus station added in 1957. On the National Register of Historic Places Stayed in business into the 1990s - to avoid disrepair, bought by a bank and given to the city of Shamrock for preservation. I wish I was able to get a better photo.
Phillips 66 Service Station - Route 66 - McLean, TX At one time, this station had a Hampton Hotels Save-a-Landmark sign which read: Built in the 1920s as the first Phillips 66 Station in Texas, operating for more than 50 years. The plaque at the door notes this was the first Phillips 66 in Texas, was built and leased to Phillips in 1929, and was the first restored station on Route 66. Another sign here says 1928. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the McLean Commercial Historic District
66 Super Service Station - Alanreed, TX This gas station was built in 1930 along Route 66 at the busiest intersection of Alanreed, TX. The building features two different canopies, each supported by a central column. The architectural style is a mixture of Craftsman and Spanish Eclectic, with a Spanish style ceramic hip-roof. The original 1926 alignment turned at this intersection, but a 1936 alignment had Route 66 go straight through this intersection. In the background is a modern mural on the old Merit Feed & Seed building. This company operated from 1926 to 1952.
Magnolia Service Station - Vega, TX Text from the Texas Historic commission PDF: www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/survey/highway/R... Built in the 1920s, the Magnolia Service Station served gasoline to Route 66 travelers and the community of Vega, Texas for decades. The building was constructed with two stories to allow the station’s operator to live in the upstairs quarters. Locals fondly remember getting their haircut in the building when it also provided barber services in later years. With the coming of Interstate- 40 in the 1970s, the business closed its doors and stood vacant for three decades. Despite its dilapidated appearance, the City of Vega recognized the significance and value of the building to Route 66 and the Vega community. In 2001, the City applied to the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program for a cost- share grant to rehabilitate the building for use as a visitor center. With an award of $50,000, the city went to work utilizing local area contractors to reconstruct the canopy and replace the doors, windows, roof and stucco. The station rehabilitation was completed and dedicated in August 2004, and has since been attracting numerous visitors to the Vega community. The Oldham County Chamber of Commerce has placed a good display of historic photographs, gas station artifacts, and oral histories inside the station for visitors and locals to enjoy.
Old rusty gas station sign Located at I-40/I-75 at exit 369. in Loudon County, TN (barely)
Small barn/shed advertising Texaco Gas This is located in the same yard with this Ad Barn for 10 miles to Sequoyah Caverns: www.flickr.com/photos/brent_nashville/175630289/ This is locaed very close to the Georgia / Alabama border along highway US11.
Vintage Cowan, TN Texaco the local vinatge gas station has been preserved and now is used as a museum and tourist welcome center. This station is located near the important transportation intersection of highway US 41A before the ascent to Sewanee and the CSX train line before it begins its ascent to the Cumberland Mtn Tunnel. The station still has three gas pumps, one for sky cheif and 2 for fire chief. In the service station, the museum has a 1936 Ford and a 1950 Ford Cowan has also preserved one of it's old fire engines that still gets the job when the call comes in.
She Sells Sea SHELL's at the gift shop This redecorated vintage Shell gas station sign was seen in Pensacola Beach, FL. And, yes - there is an unneccesary apostrophe in Shell's.
Mast General Store - Valle Crucis, NC The Mast General Store, located in Historic Valle Crucis, is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places as one of the best remaining examples of an old country general store. It is still the center of the community housing the post office and offering coffee for 5¢ on the honor system. It remains true to the old-time general store from the 19th century by offering items that its neighbors might need, as well as products of interest to travelers and other visitors. The building that would become Mast General Store was constructed in 1882 by Henry Taylor and opened in 1883. W.W. Mast purchased half interest in the store in 1897, and the store was renamed the "Taylor and Mast General Store". In 1913, Mast purchased the remaining half of Taylor's interest, and the business became known as the Mast General Store. The business stayed in the family through three generations until, in 1973, it was sold to a doctor from Atlanta and a professor from Appalachian State University. The business closed its doors in 1977. It would remain closed until John and Faye Cooper purchased and reopened it in June 1980. In 1996, Mast General Store became an employee-owned company. In the last couple of decades, the store has expanded with new locations including one in Knoxville.
Esso Advertising Barn - New Middleton, TN It's tough to see, but this is an old advertisement for ESSO painted on the side of this metal barn. It would be even tougher to read after the trees bloom. Much of the pain has faded but I can make out a few of the words such as "The Great" and FUEL. It's seen along the New Middleton Highway (TN53/TN141) in Smith County a couple of miles west of Gordonsville.
Vintage Gulf Neon Sign - East Ridge, TN Probably not actually a Gulf anymore, but keeping the old sign up, the business looked like an independent mechanic shop. East Ridge is a suburb of Chattanooga east of Missionary Ridge and near the TN/GA border. The main road through town is US41/76. UPDATE: I drove by here again on 8/1/14 and the gulf sign was taken down, leaving just the metal scaffolding.
Aeroplane Filling Station - Powell, TN Dating back to the glory days of roadside architecture is this vintage gas station eye-catchingly shaped like a plane built by proprietors Elmer and Henry Nickle in 1930. (Here's a photo from 1931.) Powell is located north of Knoxville along US25W on the road to Clinton, TN. The gas station went out of business half a century ago and was abandoned for a while. Other businesses moved in to keep it open, such as a liquor store, a produce stand, a bait & tackle shop and finally a used car lot. About a decade ago, locals who wanted to preserve their roadside heritage from demolition began to rally to save the plane. They created a website (now gone, I think) and sold t-shirts to raise money for the novelty architecture preservation. One thing that caught me by surprise during my visit is the exterior has shiny new sheet metal compared to other recent photos I had seen online. Also new are the windows and the light along the wing. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also helped by the Tennessee Historic Commission
