Volunteers in Tucumcari, N.M., have been repainting abandoned gas stations in a classic, old-fashioned style to dress up the Route 66 corridor through town.
The latest isn’t an abandoned station, but one that has been converted into a smoke shop, across the road from the Lowes grocery store.
The smoke shop now looks like a Standard Oil station:
Richard Talley, owner of the Motel Safari and one of the volunteers, said of the group’s future efforts:
This month we’ll be doing a “Magnolia” or Mobil themed one, with both a Pegasus and Gargoyle on it, and then we take a break until spring, when we already have 4 more lined up …
As I’ve said before, this is a low-cost way to dress up blighted properties on Route 66 — one that many more communities should embrace.
(Photo courtesy of Richard Talley)
Nice job!! Looks great!
This looks great!
Instead of giving the stations random paint jobs why doesn’t someone take the time at city hall to pull the original warranty deed record to find out their history and restore them to their original glory? I am not trying to be negitative I just think that if it’s worth doing then it’s worth doing right! I restored a Historic Sinclair Station in Fort Worth, Texas. Google it.
Paul Lemon
817-999-1260
Paul — I wholeheartedly agree! It killed me that they painted the Esso station to look like a Phillips 66. Why couldn’t they have made an effort to be historically accurate? At a minimum, there could be a little plaque, maybe with a vintage photo, to describe what was really there originally. This fake-o history makes me nuts!