Historic gas station in Oklahoma City torn down

A cottage-style gas station in Oklahoma City that dated to the beginnings of Route 66 was torn down in recent weeks to make way for a fast-food restaurant, according to the OKC Central blog, which is affiliated with The Oklahoman newspaper.

The long-closed station stood at Pennsylvania Avenue and Northwest 23rd Street (aka Route 66). Here is a Google Maps image of the corner before the station faced the wrecking ball:


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Longtime Route 66 News reader Rick Martin alerted me to the gas station’s razing about a week ago. Oklahoman reporter Steve Lackmeyer, who’s well-plugged-in on Oklahoma City’s historical issues, checked into it and wrote a report Tuesday on his OKC Central blog.

Lackmeyer said the gas station and a nearby retail building both were built in 1926 — the first year U.S. Highway 66 was federally commissioned.

According to Sanborn fire insurance maps, the station was originally a Conoco.

The corner has been empty for as long as I can remember. A vintage-style Sears stood catty-corner to the gas station, and it was torn down in the mid-1990s to make way for the big box shopping center we see today.

Lackmeyer reports the site will be developed into a Raising Canes fast-food eatery.

6 thoughts on “Historic gas station in Oklahoma City torn down

  1. That is too bad, as it looks like a very cute little building, and it had survived all this time. Just what we need is another fast-food restaurant. And when that closes in a year or two, we’ll have to watch their ugly building decay.

  2. This is why I am desperately trying to get the money together to buy “Dale’s Barber Shop” in Joplin. I want to restore it to something like the Phillips 66 in McLean, Tx (while running my computer repair business out of it).

  3. Incomprehensible while the tourism around 66 develops more and more. Another old 66 place disappears instead of being protected. I would be curious to know how many fast-food restaurants already exist in the city.
    Fortunately, other cities protect their 66’s treasures.

    (sorry for my English). A route 66 fan from France.

  4. I grew up in OKC, and, sadly, many folks there have been quick on the trigger to demolish wonderful landmarks like this; I remember my mom bringing me a brick from the Biltmore Hotel after it was torn down. It’s too bad the new owners couldn’t have tried to incorporate it into the new building.

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