Kemnitz Sinclair Station - Perry, OK - Vintage Gas Stations on Waymarking.com

South of the town square at 524 Cedar Street is Kemnitz Sinclair Station. The building is a one-story light-colored brick building that was built in 1937. It is Art Moderne architecture and was constructed by Mid-Continental Petroleum Company. This is a two-bay building, and still offers Full-Service gasoline.

The following information was learned from the granite plaque attached to the building. "...the structure includes the women's restroom outside entrance in the rear. The inside premises were "men only" in service stations at that time. Opened as the Diamond Super X station, it soon became the DX service station operated by various Mid-Continent agents and the first to offer DX products in Perry. Mid-Continent also opened the Diamond X bulk oil business located at the Frisco train depot in 1937. The second service bay was added to the building in 1950.

"Charles Kemnitz took the lease on April 1, 1955 and sold the Mid-Continent brand DX gasoline for 32 cents a gallon. Business was very competitive with 22 full service stations operating in Perry. The hours of operation were 7AM to 9PM seven days a week. In 1958, Kemnitz also gained the commission on the Mid-Continent bulk oil operation. Charles and his wife Laura purchased the station in 1961 and the bulk oil business in 1978. After working as part-time bookkeeper at home, beginning in 1955, Laura became full-time in the station office in 1978.

"Through partnerships they have supplied petroleum products from DX Sunray, APCO and Sinclair Oil Company. From 1963 to 1979 the building was painted white as required by DX Sinclair. During the 1970's oil shortage, the business did not receive their allocation for one week. After 50 years, Charles and Laura retired and the business was passed on to the next generation. Craig and Ruby Kemnitz continued the operation on April 1, 2005. The Oklahoma Petroleum Marketing Association considers this the longest continuous operating service station in Oklahoma."

Address of the station: 524 Cedar Street Perry, OK USA 73077 Type of Gas Station: Still in Service

Visit Instructions:
Enjoy your visit, tell your story and post a picture.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/07/2023 FLMathfreak visited it 04/26/2022 GeoVet91 visited it 10/13/2017 The Snowdog visited it 10/10/2013 Max and 99 visited it 03/16/2013 Benchmark Blasterz visited it

View all visits/logs