The New Ulm Oil Company Service Station is a historic

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 ...

in New Ulm, Minnesota. The private, commercial structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 31, 1979. Its strong, fanciful visual images exemplify independent gas station designs of the 1920s."In Minnesota", ''SCA Newsletter'' (SCAN)
Society for Commercial Archeology
April 1985.

Structure

The Service Station is built on a diagonal axis facing the intersection of North Broadway Street and North 5th Street in New Ulm. The main facade is flanked by two imposing, copper-roofed towers, octagonal at the first level and circular at the second. A one-story office/retail area is located between the two towers, and from it projects a single-lane

drive-through A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word ''through''), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the United ...

canopy with the gas pump area at the front. The upper sides of the canopy are capped by a parapet with a curvilinear profile. The

fenestration Fenestration may refer to: * Fenestration (architecture), the design, construction, or presence of openings in a building * Used in relation to fenestra in anatomy, medicine and biology * Fenestration, holes in the rudder of a ship to reduce the w ...

consists of arched window and door openings under the canopy and on the two towers; all are capped by precast concrete units which join to form a decorative belt course. The entire structure is built of the rainbow Artstone block manufactured by the company that designed the building. The building was originally designed with windmill blades at the top of each tower, but they were never installed. Over the life of the building some reversible modifications were made: the red tile roof of the canopy was replaced with asphalt shingle and a wooden screen was added to the front of the canopy. In the years after being listed on the NRHP, the wooden screen and gas pumps were removed.

Significance

The Service Station was a part of the boom of gas stations built throughout the country during the 1920s, corresponding with the years of expanding automobile use; the era was one of crucial development for a rural county like Brown County. The gas station was one of a series of stations designed by the Saffert Construction Company (now American Artstone Company) of New Ulm during the 1920s. These stations projected strong, fanciful design, incorporating features such as windmills and

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

s. Differing from the standardized plans adopted by national chains, these stations were custom-designed for specific locations belonging to independent oil companies. The New Ulm Oil Company Service Station is one of two known to survive with a high degree of historic integrity.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Brown County, Minnesota Commercial buildings completed in 1926 Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Gas stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Novelty buildings in Minnesota Retail buildings in Minnesota Transport infrastructure completed in 1926 National Register of Historic Places in Brown County, Minnesota 1926 establishments in Minnesota