“CBS Saturday Morning” yesterday aired a 4 1/2-minute segment about recent preservation efforts for the Threatt Filling Station along Route 66 near Luther, Oklahoma.
The camera crew caught up with volunteers from the Oklahoma Historical Society, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Guthrie Job Corps and The Hope Crew when they were shoring up the century-old property in June.
Here’s the segment:
In case the embedding doesn’t work, go here.
The Threatt family wants to reopen the gas station as an interpretive center by June 2024, shortly before Route 66’s centennial in 2026.
Built by Allen Threatt in 1915, the gas station remains one of the few surviving Black-owned businesses along Route 66. The bungalow-style station made of rock from the Threatt farm’s quarry was designated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The Threatt Filling Station operated until the 1960s or ’70s, when it was converted into living quarters.
In recent years, the station has received grants from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, plus benefited from a fundraiser led by Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell.
The Threatt station in 2021 was named one of America’s Most Endangered Places, though it arguably is no longer in jeopardy.
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