Laurel Kane passed on bad news today about the historic Spraker Service Station along Route 66 in Vinita, Okla.:
The Spraker Service Station in Vinita, OK, which just a few weeks ago was the subject of an email writing campaign advocating its preservation, is no more. As I drove through Vinita on my way to Afton this morning just before 9 a.m., the bulldozer was taking large bites out of it, and only about one-fourth of it remained standing. It was virtually gone, and I found it quite interesting that this was occurring early on a Sunday morning, when few people were out to witness the devastation. On my way home from Afton, it was nothing but a pile of rubble.
The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995. The picture above that I took of the station was from last week. I tried to contact the owner of the property to get him to reconsider the demolition, to no avail.
The owner of the property is C.R. Moore Co., a Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep dealership. The next time you need a vehicle, you know from which dealership to not buy one.
I’ll have more about this later.