The landmark Afton Station in Afton, Oklahoma, is on the market again after being sold at auction less than a year ago.
A sharp-eyed Route 66 enthusiast noticed the property recently listed on Facebook Marketplace by Teresa McCoin.
Contacted via Facebook Messenger, McCoin stated she wanted $174,000 for it but would consider renting out the property “if someone is interested in owning a business.” She can be contacted through the listing.
Louis Cox of nearby Ketchum, Oklahoma, and business partner McCoin bought the 1930s gas station for $72,000 at an auction on June 29.
In a phone interview shortly after the auction, Cox said they were inviting anyone who had a Route 66-related business in mind to submit a proposal.
The property listing emerged during a Facebook discussion last week about a recent story on KSNF-TV in nearby Joplin, Missouri, about the village of Afton wanting to raise $1,200 so it can be listed as a designated site in an upcoming Oklahoma Route 66 Passport program.
Several people noted Afton’s attractiveness as a Route 66 stop is diminished since the deaths of Afton Station co-owners Laurel and David Kane and the property’s subsequent closure, liquidation of its Packard car collection and Route 66 memorabilia and finally the auction the station itself.
Laurel Kane, 69, died in January 2016 from a short illness after a fall at her home in Tulsa. She spent 15 years welcoming travelers at the station, detailing her experiences on a blog that still remains online four years after her death.
Her former husband, David Kane, 74, died in an accident at his home in Grove, Oklahoma, in August 2018.
The Kanes, who hailed from Connecticut, in 1998 bought the former D-X gas station and spent two years restoring it.
(Image of the closed Afton Station in Afton, Oklahoma, from Facebook Marketplace listing)
Of all the closed businesses along 66 that I’ll never get to see, I regret missing this one the most.