The Provine Service Station (later the Hamons Court, Hamons' Service Station or simply Lucille's Place) 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 ...

on U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma. Located a half-mile south of

Hydro, Oklahoma Hydro is a town in Caddo and Blaine counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 969. History The town was founded on August 6, 1901. Built near the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad, the settlement ...

and operated by Lucille Hamons from 1941 until her death on August 18, 2000, the site was added to the US

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 1997. Lucille Hamons' generous assistance to motorists 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 ...

during hard economic times at the end of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

would make her a US Route 66 legend, earning the nickname "Mother of the Mother Road."

History

Opened by Carl Ditmore in 1929, this is one of the few remaining examples of a two-story fuel station with the owner's residence situated above the pumps on an upper floor. W.O. and Ida Waldroup changed the name to Provine Service Station after buying the station in 1934 and would later add tourist cabins to provide five

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...

rooms on-site. Lucille and Carl Hamons acquired the Provine Station in 1941, a few months before the US entry into

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 ...

. Mobilisation for war brought

wartime rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

and

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

s, causing civilian traffic on the highway to decline. Carl Hamons worked as an independent trucker, leaving Lucille to operate the station and the motel. Traffic on US 66 would then increase substantially during the 1950s and 1960s, only to vanish with the completion of

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 ...

in the area in 1971. After the highway was bypassed, the motel closed and Carl and Lucille would divorce but Lucille's would continue to serve a largely local clientele. The station became known for vending very cold

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

from its old cooler at a time when nearby

Weatherford, Oklahoma Weatherford is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 10,833 at the 2010 census. Geography Weatherford is located at (35.5384097, -98.6872467). The elevation is 1,634 feet (498 m). According to the United States ...

(home of

Southwestern Oklahoma State University Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) is a public university in Weatherford and Sayre, Oklahoma. It is one of six Regional University System of Oklahoma members. History SWOSU was first established through an act of the Oklahoma Ter ...

) was officially a

dry town A dry county is a county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Dozens of dry counties exist across the ...

. The last fuel was dispensed in 1986 and the station ultimately became a

souvenir shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collec ...

, with demand in the 1990s driven largely by

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek language, Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", ...

surrounding a road which by then had become not merely a

decommissioned highway A decommissioned highway is a highway that has been removed from service by being shut down, or has had its authorization as a national, provincial or state highway removed, the latter also referred to as downloading. Decommissioning can include ...

but a powerful symbol of a bygone era. The original "Hamons Court" motel sign was donated by the Hamons family in 2003 to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where it is now displayed as part of an exhibition on "America on the Move".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provine Service Station Buildings and structures in Caddo County, Oklahoma Buildings and structures on U.S. Route 66 Gas stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Retail buildings in Oklahoma U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Caddo County, Oklahoma