Robinson Station - Oklahoma City, OK
Posted by: The Snowdog
N 35° 29.595 W 097° 28.960
14S E 637628 N 3928803
This vintage gas station is on the north side of NE 23rd between Kelley and Eastern in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Waymark Code: WM13QM5
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 02/02/2021
Views: 1
This vintage gas station is now a tribute to the Leonard and Shirley Robinson family, who owned two service stations on NE 23rd, and to the Patterson Car Company. The station has been painted, there is a mural of the "Patterson Car Company" on the garage door, and signs and artwork on the building about the Robinsons.
I could find no history of this particular station online but spoke to the operator of the wrecker service that rents the space behind the service station and to the current landowner. Both recall that it was built sometime in the 1930s and sold gas (under various brands) and tires for many decades. The station fell into disrepair and was restored through efforts by the Oklahoma City Arts Commission. A document pertaining to the mural is
here.
The Leonard & Shirley Robinson Family
Leonard and Shirley Robinson along with their seven children, Charles, Wanda, Ronald, Hosea, Terry, Jimmie and Waynetta owned and operated two service stations on N.E. 23rd.
C.R Patterson, born a slave, built America's only African-American-owned automobile manufacturing company in 1915 in the state of Ohio.
This mural represents and celebrates the entrepreneurship and contribution to the auto industry of Mr. Patterson and honors the auto services that the Robinson family proudly provided to Oklahoma City from 1967--2014.
Oklahoma Black Museum
and Performing Arts Center
National African American Jazz Legacy Museum
BONE - 23 Beatification of NE 23rd St.
August 25, 2018
Text from sign