The Roundtop Filling Station, in Sherwood, Arkansas, United States, is one of only two structures in Sherwood to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the other being

Sylvan Hills Country Club Golf Course The Greens at North Hills Municipal Golf Course is a municipal golf course located in Sherwood, Arkansas, United States. Construction of the golf course began in 1927 during the "golden era" of golf course design. Originally named the Sylvan Hil ...

Construction

The Roundtop Filling Station was built in 1936 by the

Justin Matthews Justin Matthews (1876–1955) was an Arkansas road and bridge builder and real estate developer. He helped to design and expand many areas in central Arkansas. Background Matthews was born in 1876 near Monticello, Arkansas. He was formally train ...

Company for the Pierce Oil Company. Pierce Oil was one of the "baby Standards" formed after the U.S. Government's breakup of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company in 1911. Pierce operated gasoline stations in Arkansas, southern Missouri, western Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico. In 1936, Pierce Oil contracted the Justin Matthews Company to construct a uniquely shaped gasoline station along

U.S. Highway 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...

. It is believed the structure was designed by Matthews' company architect,

Frank Carmean Frank Carmean was an architect in Arkansas. Not formally trained as an architect, but rather experienced in building construction, he became a designer. He joined a firm in 1927 that was developing the Edgemont residential area of Little Rock, a ...

, and was built by brothers C.C. and Powderley Eubanks.

History

Wallace David "Happy" Williford, a senior at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and employee at another Pierce-owned station in Jacksonville, was asked by the company to come operate the new service station. Williford agreed and worked at the station before and after attending school. Williford paid men to operate the station for him during school hours, but says it was hard finding men who would only work for $3.50 a week. For rent, Pierce charged Williford two cents per gallon of gas sold. At first, the station had no electric gas pumps, and Williford and his employees had to hand pump the gas up into the glass bowl before filling each car's tank. Around 1940, the Roundtop became a Sinclair station, after Pierce Oil was purchased by the Sinclair Oil Company. Around this time, electric pumps were installed Some time in the early 1950s, Sinclair sold many of their Arkansas stations, including the Roundtop, to the

Phillips Petroleum Company Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...

, and 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 ...

branded station. In the 1970s, the station would become a DX branded station, and at the time it closed in 1981, it was a Sunoco branded station due to Sun Oil Company's acquisition of DX. By 1957, Williford had saved up enough money to purchase the station for $8,000. With business booming, Willford would open up another gas station at the foot of the Broadway Bridge in North Little Rock (Pulaski County), near the site of present-day Dickey-Stephens Park. Williford later closed that station and opened another at 914 East Broadway in North Little Rock. During this time, Williford leased the Roundtop to others. He returned to the Roundtop in the mid-1970s and operated it exclusively until he retired and closed the business in 1981. In 1989, Wayne Ball, a local auctioneer, coincidentally, a former station employee from his youth, conducted the auction of the Roundtop on behalf of Williford. The winning bidder was George E. Brown, a North Little Rock businessman. Brown planned to renovate the then dilapidated building; however before this could happen, Brown died, and, in 1999, his heirs donated the station to the City of Sherwood, which had annexed the area in 1975. In 2010, the Roundtop was featured in "The Last Ride," a film about Hank Williams, Sr., directed by Arkansas native Harry Thomasson. The scenes filmed at Roundtop include, several of the Williams character, his young chauffeur, Silas, and his love interest.

Restoration

For years, the gas station-turned-landmark sat abandoned, and, over time, was the victim of vandalism and theft. In the mid-2000s, Linda Nickle, Sherwood's former Economic Development Director, advocated for the restoration of the station and ultimately caused it to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. In January, 2013, Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman, appointed Joey Marks, an employee of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and lifelong resident of Sherwood, to chair the first Sherwood History and Heritage Committee. Brown began working to obtain grant money to aid in the restoration of the Roundtop. On June 5, 2013, the City of Sherwood was notified by the Office of Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe that Sherwood had received a $50,000 historic preservation grant for the Roundtop project from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The committee is considering a restoration of the gas station to its original condition and converting it into a Sherwood Police substation.

Fire

On November 2, 2014, a fire damaged the building's exterior, just days before it was set to reopen to the public. The Sherwood police reported is an arson attempt.

References

External links