The Shell Service Station in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

Forsyth County, North Carolina Forsyth County is located in the northwest Piedmont of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 382,590, making it the fourth-most populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Winston-Salem. Forsyth ...

, is a former

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 ...

constructed in 1930 following a decision in the 1920s by the new local

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

distributor, Quality Oil Company, to bring brand awareness to the market in Winston-Salem. The building is an example of representational or

novelty architecture Novelty architecture, also called programmatic architecture or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as advertising or to copy other famous buildings w ...

and was listed on 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 ...

on May 13, 1976. It is located in the Waughtown-Belview Historic District at the corner of Sprague and Peachtree Streets.

History

This single-story Shell station, in the shape of a giant

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

shell, was built by R.H. Burton and his son, Ralph, in 1930 at Sprague and Peachtree Streets in Winston-Salem. The owners of the oil company decided to attract customers through a series of shell-shaped service stations. They built at least eight in the Winston-Salem area, but the station at Sprague and Peachtree is the only one remaining. The Shell station speaks to the literalism prevalent in some advertising during the 1920s and 1930s.

Preservation

Preservation North Carolina, an organization dedicated to the preservation of historic sites, spent one year and $50,000 to bring the landmark station back to its original condition. Workers removed layers of faded yellow paint to reveal the Shell's original yellow-orange color. The original front door was repaired and a crack fixed that had been previously sealed with nothing more than black

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

. The wooden, trellised shelter that housed the car wash and allowed cars to be washed and/or serviced in the shade was reconstructed as well. Quality Oil Company donated restored

gas pump A gasoline pump is a machine at a filling station that is used to pump gasoline (petrol), diesel, or other types of liquid fuel into vehicles. Gasoline pumps are also known as bowsers or petrol bowsers (in Australia), petrol pumps (in Common ...

s and replica lamp posts to help finish off the restoration. The landmark now serves as a museum for Preservation North Carolina.Determining the Facts Reading 1: Representational Architecture
Roadside Attractions, National Park Service.

Notes

External links

Shell Station at oldgas.com
- with a photograph of a shell-shaped station during construction

details of the restoration project

{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Buildings and structures in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Novelty buildings in North Carolina Retail buildings in North Carolina Roadside attractions in the United States Shell plc buildings and structures Transport infrastructure completed in 1930 Tourist attractions in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Gas stations on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in North Carolina 1930 establishments in North Carolina

History

Preservation

See also

Notes

External links