The ownership of the historic Threatt Filling Station in Luther, Oklahoma, has filed for a specific use permit from the city for a 160-acre complex.
According to The Luther Register newspaper, Threatt Legacy LLC wants to rezone the tract on Route 66 and Pottawatomie Road for a mixed-use development that would include a museum, campground, sports fields, and a future restaurant, tavern, retail and housing.
In its own way, the development would be a throwback for the Theatt family:
The land, acquired by Allen Threatt Sr. around 100 years ago, holds deep roots in Luther’s history. The Threatt Filling Station was a full-service gas station, cafe, campground, and ballpark that drew travelers with attractions like a rattlesnake pit. Nearly lost to disrepair, the station has been revived through efforts by the family, nonprofits, and community partners. In April 2024, the Threatt Filling Station Foundation secured an $858,000 grant from the State of Oklahoma to restore and reopen at least part of it before the 2026 Route 66 Centennial.
Currently zoned agricultural within town limits, the SUP aims to revive the station’s heyday as a tourist draw while honoring the Threatt family’s legacy. Johnson and Associates, an Oklahoma City planning firm behind projects like Bricktown’s Canal and Midtown Streetscapes, is handling the application. The proposed uses include residential (single or two-family), commercial (restaurant, retail, repair shop, beauty parlor, mercantile, office, hotel, RV campground, museum, gas station, tavern), community recreation (sports fields, courts), a pavilion for events, outdoor patio, and parking areas with gravel overflow.
The Luther Planning Commission will consider the application on Nov. 10, followed by the Town Board of Trustees on Nov. 12.
The Threatt Filling Station is believed to be the only Black-owned and operated gas station on Route 66 during the Jim Crow era, though it was never listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book.
Built by Allen Threatt in 1915, the bungalow-style station made of rock from the Threatt quarry was designated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The station operated until the 1960s or ’70s, when it was converted into living quarters.
(Courtesy image of Ed Threatt and Bill Thomas at the Threatt Filling Station in Luther, Oklahoma, in 2022)