“If walls could talk,” what kind of stories do you think a 100-year-old service station could share?
I am particularly fond of gas station history because the fuel industry runs in my family. As of 2023, it had been a century since my great-grandfather built a service station in northern Utah.
I found myself taking a trip back in time to historic Stone Avenue in Tucson, Arizona, where a charming ice cream cone-shaped building has survived a century in relatively unchanged shape and condition. Many people who pass by it daily on the busy street probably don’t even give it a passing glance.
Design was done by Cecil H. Moore who lived from 1913 through 2009. His project portfolio was extensive (and centered almost entirely around Tucson), with over 350 projects over a 40-year career.
Newspaper Excerpts
My fascination with the ice cream cone building accelerated with a deep dive into online newspaper archives. One of the websites I browsed had over a billion pages at my fingertips – all I had to do was find the right keywords, location, and date ranges to browse.
Based upon the research, it appears that the Stone Avenue address was initially a private residence. Or, perhaps as was the case with my grandfather’s station, it had living quarters inside it.
Over the years, the station’s address was used to market many vehicles in classified ad listings. Here were just a few of the newspaper excerpts that caught my eye.
- The oldest listing that I could find was dated May 16, 1923, and it was for a Ford sedan priced at $400. Even at only three years old, the car already had a fresh paint job.
- In January 1942, a tire was stolen from a car parked at the service station. Apparently, this was a pretty rampant form of crime during the era (World War II was well underway at the time, and it is likely the supply of tires and other automotive supplies for domestic use had been restricted).
- In March 1946, the Shell station was also operating as a radiator repair shop. When was the last time you had your radiator re-cored?
- In December 1947, you could buy a brand-new Buick Super convertible in “Powder Puff Blue.”
- In February 1952, Joe’s Shell Service Station was granted a building permit for re-roofing valued at $150.
- In March 1952, the station advertised Goodyear whitewall tires, saying, “White sidewalls that are built to stay white; the smartest looking tires you can put on your car.”
- By 1962, the station was called “Old Pueblo Shell” and it was advertising quite a unique combination of merchandise in the same ad. Goodyear tires in 15-inch sizes were offered at $9.99 each, and women’s nylon hose were offered at two pair for $1.00. Talk about a one-stop shop!
Claim to Fame
Few photos exist of the Stone Ave service station throughout its lifetime, but I was able to dig up a colorful picture from about 1978 when the price of fuel was posted at 66 cents per gallon. At that time, the station was “Union”-branded.
One special story came about when the building – or at least a corner of it – was featured in a 1980 movie starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. The film was called “Stir Crazy,” and one of the scenes showed the main characters breaking down in their 1957 Dodge A-108 Sportsman van on their cross-country road trip from New York to a city in the southwest called Glenboro. They stopped at the Union station for repairs, and we saw a glimpse of the unmistakable roof awning in the background.
Current State
It’s been about 40 years since any fuel was pumped or snacks were purchased from 648 North Stone Avenue. The building today is occupied by a Medicare consultant, a tax accountant, and a bail bond service.
It would be fascinating to roam the closets, attic, and crawl space to see what kind of relics might remain from its gas station heritage. For now, I’ll just dream of buying a 1947 Powder Puff Buick Super.
