OLD SERVICE STATIONS....

[fredball]

Old fuel stop

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[BWH]

......and that kids, is what it was like when I was a kid!

....free maps too!

 

[The Heretic]

There used to be two gas stations in Salem, one on S. 12th street, one on Portland Road, that sold some auto-parts too along with cheap gas. I don't remember if they were affiliated with each other. The one of S. 12th street had a much smaller display area that was open to the weather if I remember correctly. The one on Portland rd. had a store almost the size of a regular parts store. They had stuff in bins to buy - I seem to recall it was the kind of stuff you would get from J.C. Whitney but they also had a parts counter.

 

[edslhead]

Remember the old Green Stamps

 

[Cerberus Group]

Great thread fredball! Thanks for posting that...when one could actually go to a "service" station.

 

[41mag]

Green stamps ruled my mom's shopping choices thru to mid-60s when the competition & confusion of "Gold Strike stamps" moved in. As far as I recall by 20 years later they all had faded as newer marketing ploys were expanded.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I remember as a kid sitting in the car and watching the service station attendants do their thing. It was cool & we felt like the upper crust in society being pampered for a few minutes.

 

[WAYNO]

There was a time, and not that long ago, there was no I-5 in Oregon. So as a kid, when we went to Salem to visit my Gramma, we took a combination of 213 and the Super Highway, 99E.

This was a rural drive, and there were Grapes of Wrath era gas stations scattered all along the Hwy 99 corridor. Many still exist, although closed down.

I remember one particularly, North of Salem. My sister was learning to drive. Dad told her to pull into the next gas station, a tiny little place with one Regular pump, and one Ethyl pump. I'll bet she flew into this gas station at 50 miles an hour with no attempt to slow down. The only memory I have of our Dad yelling at any of us.

The station is still there, but has been closed for decades. And I remember the episode every time I pass the station.

 

[WAYNO]

Another thought...

All these old gas stations that were abandoned over the years, how many still have a tank buried, rotting away?

Even in my neighborhood where I grew up in Southeast Portland, there were gas stations on nearly every corner, even in residential neighborhoods. When the stations closed, they remained dormant for years, until all of a sudden there was an apartment or business built in its place. I don't remember the tanks ever being dug up.

 

[cigars]

Great thread!

 

[Oregonhunter5]

On my church mission in 1992, gas was .79 in Kansas City .

 

[GOG]

I remember my Dad going ballistic because gas went up to nineteen cents.

 

[CombatMechanic]

Another thought...

All these old gas stations that were abandoned over the years, how many still have a tank buried, rotting away?

Even in my neighborhood where I grew up in Southeast Portland, there were gas stations on nearly every corner, even in residential neighborhoods. When the stations closed, they remained dormant for years, until all of a sudden there was an apartment or business built in its place. I don't remember the tanks ever being dug up.

They were probably repurposed, I find it hard to believe a development would just ignore it, or not remove it. Though depending when they were made and if there's damage they could easily become a ground water issue, but be cool to find one usable turn it into something useful.

 

[cigars]

I remember odd and even days during the oil crisis. I was little but I remember my dad telling me to go out and check the last number of the license plate on his old Rambler.

 

[WAYNO]

They were probably repurposed, I find it hard to believe a development would just ignore it, or not remove it. Though depending when they were made and if there's damage they could easily become a ground water issue, but be cool to find one usable turn it into something useful.

That's what we might think should happen. I've done a little research, and apparently it is an issue. Back before anybody cared, a gas station could be leveled and the property remain undeveloped for years. Then when somebody buys the property, he might never know there was a garage or gas station there.

Growing up in Portland, I could point out many locations where a gas station or garage existed in the fifties and before, and you'd have to look long and hard before you'd find someone from the old neighborhoods that would remember.

Here's an example from my old neighborhood. As a kid, this was a gas station. Maybe 40 years ago, the gas pumps were removed but the building remained as a low budget automotive service garage. Eventually, the building disappeared.



Now, if this property came up for sale, who would know to look, or where would a feller search, to find if the land had been decontaminated and the tanks removed?

 

[CombatMechanic]

That's what we might think should happen. I've done a little research, and apparently it is an issue. Back before anybody cared, a gas station could be leveled and the property remain undeveloped for years. Then when somebody buys the property, he might never know there was a garage or gas station there.

Growing up in Portland, I could point out many locations where a gas station or garage existed in the fifties and before, and you'd have to look long and hard before you'd find someone from the old neighborhoods that would remember.

Here's an example from my old neighborhood. As a kid, this was a gas station. Maybe 40 years ago, the gas pumps were removed but the building remained as a low budget automotive service garage. Eventually, the building disappeared.

Google Maps

Now, if this property came up for sale, who would know to look, or where would a feller search, to find if the land had been decontaminated and the tanks removed?

Very true, for someone not doing their research it could be overlooked. I just imagined with all the below grown plumbing it turn up and reveal itself at some point. Could even still be fuel in them if abandoned.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Another thought...

All these old gas stations that were abandoned over the years, how many still have a tank buried, rotting away?

Even in my neighborhood where I grew up in Southeast Portland, there were gas stations on nearly every corner, even in residential neighborhoods. When the stations closed, they remained dormant for years, until all of a sudden there was an apartment or business built in its place. I don't remember the tanks ever being dug up.

Yes, that is something to ponder, could know one got missed when a report comes in about a sinkhole... LOL

 

[CombatMechanic]

Yes, that is something to ponder, could know one got missed when a report comes in about a sinkhole... LOL

Sinkhole, or new pond?

 

[Caveman Jim]

Sinkhole, or new pond?

Exactly, pool with swirly blue, purple and pink water (gasoline)...

 

[CombatMechanic]

Exactly, pool with swirly blue, purple and pink water (gasoline)...

I do love a free fire pit!