I took these pics back in 1995.I had just finished the restoration on my 65,it was Blue Charcoal back then.The 66 is my dads unrestored,original owner car.He passed away in 1999.Anyway,the building was built in the 19-teens by my great grandfather,Andy E.Newman.It was a repair shop and also a Gulf station,then he operated it as a Ford dealership in the '30s.By the '50s it was sold out of the family and was a pool hall and a barbershop.Around back there is a lower level.My grandfather who passed away 4 years ago at 94 worked there as a kid until his teens.He would tell me many stories about the place,even at 94 he had an AMAZING memory.The road in front of the station was the main highway up until about 1953 when the new 4 lane interstate opened up just about an 1/8 mile directly behind the station.Under a few inches of blacktop is the original brickroad just like in front of the station.Directly to the right is the house my grandfather was born in.It was sold out of the family in the 1960s.Also just off to the right the road starts down a fairly steep hill for about 1/2 mile then goes right back up.My grandfather said that when it snowed him and his brother would go to the bottom with chains and charge ten cents to put the chains on tires then ride back up to the station,take the chains off and go back down the hill and help the next car.Sorry i'm getting off topic here.Over the years it changed owners few times until the early '90s when my uncle was able to buy it back into the family.With the help of my grandfather,his dad by the way,they restored similar to how it looked at one time with some liberties.My grandfather NEVER threw anything away so he still had a lot of items from back when the station was operating.The inside is a time capsule of parts.displays,cars,toys,signage,you name it.Along one way is a cement 'trought'that they kept live minnows in to sell to fisherman passing thru.The station has been featured in a few magazines i think the best story was in Cars&Parts.It was open to the public and during our local car show people loved to take pics of their car parked by the pumps.But after some high-dollars items started disappearing the 'open to the public' days had to end.
|