Delano Oil Co. gas stations, a fixture along mid-Missouri and Route 66 for 88 years, are vanishing after Midwest Petroleum bought the chain.
Jay Delano, president of the company, told the Waynesville Daily Guide the buyout was supposed to close this week. The company’s website still was up Thursday night, however.
Delano said he thought it was time to sell because he was close to retirement age.
His grandfather, also Jay Delano, started Delano Oil Co. in 1928. The newspaper dug up this history of the company:
Delano’s grandfather moved to the Cuba, Missouri, area in the early 1890s and actually had a timber business where the Delano office is currently located on West Washington Street in St. James.
Delano said his grandfather noticed that with vehicles becoming more popular, he decided to get into the gas station business.
The first station was built along Route 66 in St. James in 1928 and was located next to where Spurgeons is now located.
Delano said his father joined the family business in the late 1940s, and over the years, locations were added in Cuba, Steelville, Salem and Owensville as well as the current locations in Rolla, Crocker and Dixon.
Delano said the 1940s stations were built with a basement so that the employee could live in an apartment at the station.
At the time of the sale, Delano had stations in the Route 66 towns of St. James and Rolla, in addition to others in Crocker and Dixon. At one point fewer than 10 years ago, Delano had 11 stores in Phelps and Crawford counties in mid-Missouri.
Delano Oil Co. posted this message on its Facebook page Saturday:
All of us here at Delano want to sincerely thank all of our loyal customers for putting faith in us to provide your fuel and convenience needs. Our 88 years wouldn’t have been possible without all of you!
Big changes will be coming in the next several weeks and months, but we are certain that Midwest will be bringing positive change to all the communities we have served. Modernization is one thing that eluded us these last few years and we are glad to finally be able to see it arrive.
Finally, we can’t sign off with out a sincere and heartfelt thank you to our intrepid managers and crew. Some have been with us for more that 25 years. Regardless of the length of time, all have been invaluable for running this company.
Again, thanks all for everything!
During one of my first Route 66 trips, I found a Delano full-service station in Cuba, Missouri. It became one of a handful of full-service stations I’ve patronized over the last 20 years or so. Almost all of them since have disappeared, save for a prominent exception on the Lincoln Highway in Bedford, Pennsylvania.
(Image of a Delano Oil Co. station via Facebook)