Avant's Cities Service Station is a historic service station located at 220 S. Choctaw in

El Reno El Reno is a city in and county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after the 18 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. The

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

building was constructed in 1933 as a service station for

Cities Service Company Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo, stylized as CITGO) is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area o ...

to fuel automobiles traveling on

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 ...

. The station was added to the

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 2004.

History

The station was constructed in 1933 to provide fuel to travelers on Route 66, which was designated in 1926 and marked through El Reno in 1927. It was built at the site of the Campbell Hotel, which was demolished to allow for the station's construction. The hotel had primarily catered to railroad travelers; as automobile travel rose in popularity, the hotel lost business and closed. Tom Avant managed the station on behalf of the Cities Service Company, which leased the station from A. D. Connelly, for its first years of operation. . While the station competed for business with the

Jackson Conoco Service Station The Jackson Conoco Service Station is a one-story brick structure located in El Reno, Oklahoma. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, it was constructed by the Continental Oil Company in 1934 as a service station to serve t ...

at the same intersection, it still faced less competition than most Route 66 stations, four of which were often situated on the same corner. In fact, the two stations had no history of contentious competition despite their proximity, a sign that both received sufficient business from travelers on the highway. The station survived a contraction in the gas station business during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, though it changed ownership during the period; it continued to operate well into the postwar period, albeit under different owners and affiliations. By 1948, the station became a

Phillips 66 The Phillips 66 Company is an American Multinational corporation, multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Westchase, Houston, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Compan ...

affiliate and was owned by William J. Schulte. The station became a

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 ...

affiliate in the 1960s and passed through a succession of owners during the decade. As

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

bypassed Route 66 in the 1960s, traffic to the station declined after the decade. The station has since been converted to a muffler store, which is still in business.

Architecture

Avant's Cities Service Station is designed in the

style; the building also features Moderne influences. The station was originally built with an office and a service bay; the original service bay was eventually converted to office space, and four additional service bays were added to the north end of the building. The concrete building features a flat roof with a zig-zag

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

rising to a peak at the center of the original office section's roof line. Stepped

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s marked by vertical lines frame the central window below the parapet; additional pillars adjoin the office's door, which is located in the original bay. The station's appearance reflects the design standards of Cities Service, which promoted Moderne styles and allowed individual owners more say in station design. These practices contrasted with most of the company's competitors, who preferred more familiar domestic designs. To promote Cities Service, the station was originally painted white with green trim and featured the company's logo under the parapet; a recessed circle and empty light socket still mark the location of the logo.

References

{{NRHP in Canadian County, Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Canadian County, Oklahoma Art Deco architecture in Oklahoma U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma Buildings and structures on U.S. Route 66 Citgo