Avant's Cities Service Station - El Reno, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 31.898 W 097° 57.306
14S E 594729 N 3932503
The construction of Route 66 completely changed the mobility of the nation. Service Stations along the Route were lifeblood to the traveling population. This station filled that need when it opened in 1933.
Waymark Code: WMWNQ9
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2017
Views: 2
This one-story concrete service station was built in the common Art Modern/Art Deco style used by the Cities Service Company. The station was placed on the National Register in 2004. Today it is occupied by WBC Rental Center.
The original station consisted of the portion to the south This area contained the office and a service bay at its north end. The office had a central bay which was slightly projected and rose to a decorative parapet in the Art Modern style. This area, with its one service bay formed an L-shaped building.
In a later year, the service bay became part of the office, with the overhead door filled to include a window and pedestrian door. The centered door of the office area was filled and became a window, flanked by the original metal-framed windows. After World War II, two additional service bays were added to the north. Each were separated by pilasters and retained the style of the original building. Each of those wood overhead doors is intact.
The National Register nomination form (
visit link) gives a full history of the importance of these service stations along Route 66, and has photos of this station in 1946 when still in operation. This station morphed in later years, becoming a Phillips 66 station in 1948, and a series of Texaco stations in 1962-1965. In more recent years, as traffic re-routed to the Interstate, the convenience of these Route 66 stations decreased and eventually, the building was used for other businesses.