Ambler's Texaco Gas Station, also known as Becker's Marathon Gas Station, is a historic

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoli ...

located at the intersection of Old U.S. Route 66 and

Illinois Route 17 Illinois Route 17 (IL 17) is a rural, arterial east–west state highway that runs east from a former ferry crossing in New Boston along the banks of the Mississippi RiverIllinois Highway EndsIllinois 17. Retrieved April 21, 2006. to State R ...

in the village of

Dwight, Illinois Dwight is a village located mainly in Livingston County, Illinois, with a small portion in Grundy County. The population was 4,032 at the 2020 census. Dwight contains an original stretch of U.S. Route 66, and from 1892 until 2016 continuously us ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The station has been identified as the longest operating gas station along Route 66; it dispensed fuel for 66 continuous years until 1999. The station is a good example of a domestic style gas station and derives its most common names from ownership stints by two different men. North of the station is an extant outbuilding that once operated as a commercial

icehouse Icehouse or ice house may refer to: * Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored * Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse'' * Ice skating rink, a facility for ice skating. * Ice hockey arena, an area where ice ...

. Ambler's was the subject of major restoration work from 2005–2007, and reopened as a Route 66 visitor's center in May 2007. It was added to the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2001.

History

Located at the intersection of

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

and

, United States, Ambler's Texaco Station was built in 1933 by Jack Schore on property originally owned by Otto Strufe. The

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

is no longer in operation as a filling station, but when it closed, it held the record as the longest operating gas station along the historic Route 66. The station last dispensed

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

in 1999.Olsen, Russell A. ''Route 66 Lost & Found: Ruins and Relics Revisited'',
Google Books
, Voyageur Press: 2006, (), p. 10. Retrieved September 29, 2007.Hoekstra, Dave. "How slow can you go?",
LexisNexis
, ''Chicago Sun-Times'', September 16, 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2007. In 1936, the station was

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

d to Vernon Von Qualen and became known as Vernon's Texaco Station. Over the next two years, Von Qualen purchased the station from Schore, and sold it in 1938 to Basil "Tubby" Ambler. Ambler owned the station from 1938–1966. Ambler's ownership was the longest of any owner during the most historically significant period; as a result, the station was known as Ambler's longer than by any other name.Boyd, Larry D.
Ambler's Texaco Gas Station
" (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, May 18, 2001, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved September 29, 2007. The owner at the time of the building's nomination to the

, Phil Becker, grew up living on Mazon Street (Illinois Route 17). He had been hanging out at the station since he was nine and began working at the station in 1964. One year after Becker's employment began, Ambler sold the station to Earl Kochler. Kochler sold the station to Royce McBeath, who ran it between 1965–1970. The station changed hands once again when Becker bought the station from McBeath on March 4, 1970. About a year after Becker took over operation of the station,

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Indepe ...

suddenly stopped supplying the location with

and Becker contracted with

Marathon Oil Marathon Oil Corporation is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration incorporated in Ohio and headquartered in the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston, Texas. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, it also runs international gas operations ...

. The brand change was accompanied by a name change to Becker's Marathon Gas Station, a name the station would be known by for over 26 years. Becker operated the station, along with his wife Debbie, from the time of purchase until 1996.Shelton, Sheila.
Texaco restoration completed
" ''Pontiac Daily Leader'' (

Pontiac, Illinois Pontiac is a city in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,931 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Livingston County. The town is also the setting of the 1984 movie ''Grandview, U.S.A.'' Geography Location P ...

), April 25, 2007, via Route 66 University. Retrieved September 29, 2007. After closing the station, the couple leased the building out as an auto repair shop and eventually donated the building to the village of Dwight. In 2005, a project to restore the old gas station began. The village of Dwight applied for and received a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

10,400 federal cost-share grant from the U.S.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

and its Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.Cost-Share Grants
, Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, ''U.S. National Park Service''. Retrieved November 4, 2007. The grant required the village to present matching funds in the amount of the grant. The restoration's ultimate goal was to reopen the station as a rest stop and interpretive center along the historic roadway.Funded Projects — 2002
" (

), Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, ''National Park Service''. Retrieved September 29, 2007.

Restoration

The combined grant and village-funded restoration included door, window, and roof repairs, along with interior and exterior repainting. The repainting matched the station's 1940s color scheme. On April 24, 2007, the National Park Service presented a plaque commemorating the restoration project at the station.Anonymous.
Dwight restores Texaco station
" ''Morris Daily Herald'' (

Morris, Illinois Morris is a city in and the county seat of Grundy County, Illinois, United States and part of the southwest Chicago metropolitan area. The population was estimated at 15,053 in 2019. Description Morris is the Grundy County seat and has a larg ...

), April 23, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007. In early May 2007, with the restoration completed, Ambler's Texaco Gas Station reopened as a visitor's center. Following the restoration, the station evokes the 1940s; the interior is complete with a

potbelly stove A potbelly stove is a cast-iron, coal-burning or wood-burning stove that is cylindrical with a bulge in the middle. Gove PB (editor in chief) (1981). ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged''. Springfield ...

, tiny

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

bottle and antique Dwight Lumber/Route 66 advertising

yardstick A meterstick, metrestick, or yardstick is either a straightedge or foldable ruler used to measure length, and is especially common in the construction industry. They are often made of wood or plastic, and often have metal or plastic joints so ...

s. Also inside are an old cash register, old

7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up comp ...

bottles and a plaid stamp saver book. The restored station is owned by the village of Dwight.Holliday, Bob.
Dwight gas station welcome center on Old 66
, ''The Pantagraph'' (

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

), May 7, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007.

Architecture

The Ambler's Texaco Station is built in a common gas station style known as "house and canopy" style or "domestic style." The style was developed by

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

of Ohio in 1916, and consisted of a small house-like building with an attached

porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...

or canopy. The canopy extended out over the

pumps A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...

to protect customers from the weather. The style was meant to evoke feelings of home and comfort in travelers and, in turn, to make people more at ease buying goods from the station.Seratt, Dorothy R.L. and Ryburn-Lamont, Terri. "," (

), Multiple Property Documentation Form, August 1997, National Register Information System, National Register of Historic Places, ''National Park Service''. Retrieved September 29, 2007. The one-story building has no basement and originally consisted of only the house and canopy portion, and three Texaco

gas pump A gasoline pump is a machine at a filling station that is used to pump gasoline (petrol), diesel, or other types of liquid fuel into vehicles. Gasoline pumps are also known as bowsers or petrol bowsers (in Australia), petrol pumps (in Commo ...

s. The house, or main office portion of the station includes the interior office and the men's and women's

restrooms A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...

. The men's restroom is accessed from the interior office and the women's restroom is accessed via an outside door on the south side of the building. The original "LADIES" sign still protrudes from the wall above the entrance. The entire house section of the station is 23 feet (7.0 m) by 14 feet (4.3 m). The exterior of the building is wood and sided with

clapboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

, save the garage bay area which is

concrete block A concrete masonry unit (CMU) is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. CMUs are some of the most versatile building products available because of the wide variety of appearances that can be achieved using them. Tho ...

. The bay was built during World War II, between 1941–45, and material shortages forced the use of the differing building material. The building has a wooden, side

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof covered with

asphalt shingle An asphalt shingle is a type of wall or roof shingle that uses asphalt for waterproofing. It is one of the most widely used roofing covers in North America because it has a relatively inexpensive up-front cost and is fairly simple to install. ...

s, which extends over the station's canopy. The canopy supporting piers originally "flared out" and have been altered since the building's original construction. The three original Texaco pumps were replaced with 1960s era Marathon pumps, which are on display in the service bay. The Marathon change-over also resulted in a sign being attached to the roof of the service bay which read "Marathon," this sign is no longer extant.

Icehouse

Located on the property of Ambler's Texaco Gas Station, just north of the station, is a 24-foot (7.3 m) by 16 foot (4.9 m) wood clad, wooden frame building that once housed a commercial

. Though its exact dates of operation are unknown, it is believed the icehouse was established by a member of Jack Schore's family during the 1930s. While the icehouse was in business, there was a small

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

located about 200 feet (61 m) east of the property. Operators cut ice from the pond and stored it in the building until sale. After the icehouse ceased operation, a date that is also unknown, the building was used as a storage shed for the

. The building features a double wall with

sawdust Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as sawing, sanding, milling, planing, and routing. It is composed of small chippings of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, ...

stuffed in between the walls to provide

insulation Insulation may refer to: Thermal * Thermal insulation, use of materials to reduce rates of heat transfer ** List of insulation materials ** Building insulation, thermal insulation added to buildings for comfort and energy efficiency *** Insulated ...

. The wooden roof has

s. Ambler's Texaco Station listing on the National Register lists the icehouse building as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

Significance

The building is a good example of the house and canopy style, and for its architectural and commercial significance it was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in October 2001 and listed on November 29, 2001. Commercially, the station is most significant for the services and products it provided travelers along U.S. Route 66, including fuel, oil and automobile repairs. The gas station met all criteria listed in the National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property form as requirements for adding gas stations to the listing. In order for gas stations along

in Illinois to qualify for listing on the National Register, they must show a clear connection to and raise feelings associated with early traffic and tourism along Route 66. A gas station listed for its architecture, such as Ambler's, must be a "good example" of an architectural style or type through many details from design to location, all of which must convey a connection with its historic appearance along Route 66.

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places Commercial buildings completed in 1934 National Register of Historic Places in Livingston County, Illinois Dwight, Illinois Buildings and structures on U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 in Illinois Texaco Retail buildings in Illinois Gas stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Ice trade Transportation buildings and structures in Livingston County, Illinois 1934 establishments in Illinois