Shea's Gas Station Museum Center piece The Mahan Filling Station located on

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 ...

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

was transformed from a working

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 ...

, and later

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, station into a museum by owner Bill Shea and his wife Helen. The museum contained an eclectic mix of vintage gas station

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

collected over the last fifty years including the original gas pumps, wooden phone booths, signs, photos, and other mementos reminiscent of old

service stations. In February 2000, the former Mahan's Station, rumored to be the oldest

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 ...

in Illinois, was moved 21 miles to its current location at Fulgenzi's. It has since been fully restored. The museum’s guestbook boasts visitors from all over Europe and Asia and has become a destination for international travelers exploring the Mother Road. Due to his commitment to preserving

history and gas station

, plus his many years of quality service to his customers, Bill Shea and his shop were inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 1993. The entire Shea family was inducted in 2002. Bill Shea died in December 2013 and the gas station was sold. The museum contents were auctioned in 2015. As of 2015, the old Filling Station building was in use as the Fulgenzi's Pizza & Pasta.

References

http://www.illinoisroute66.org/What-to-See/Details/ArticleID/4880/Mahans-Filling-Station-at-Fulgenzis

External links

* http://www.oldgas.com/info/sheasroute66.html * http://www.il66assoc.org/attraction/sheas-gas-station-museum {{authority control Defunct museums in Illinois Buildings and structures in Springfield, Illinois Automobile museums in Illinois U.S. Route 66 in Illinois Historic gas stations in the United States Retail buildings in Illinois

See also

References

External links