Preservation
Articles
“Saving a 1931 National Road Filling Station,”
America’s Byways Resource Center; Vistas, August/September 2001
Historic: Saving a 1931 National Road Filling Station
Note: The following story is from a presentation by Trish Eccles at the “Protecting and Preserving Historic Roads Conference” sponsored by the National Road Alliance on July 27-28, 2001. Trish is a volunteer with the Indiana National Road Association and the National Road Alliance.
In January 1999, a small article in the local newspaper announced its upcoming demolition. The Coffee Cottage was closing and the building would be torn down. Its life began in 1931 as a Texaco filling station along the National Road (US 40) in western Indiana (Terre Haute). It was one of the few survivors—an early gas station from decades past. Luckily, the Indiana National Road Association took notice and realized the building had important historic and cultural significance.
Transportation historian Glory-June Greiff cautions that this type of roadside architecture—facilities designed to serve motorists—is quickly disappearing. These often-unheralded resources are three-dimensional documents that help us understand the development of the automobile and the American highway in twentieth century. They tell a story about the impact of transportation on the landscape and the towns along the way, and reflect past popular culture.
Disappearing Treasures
In their peak during the 1950s-1960s, filling stations, displaying distinctive shapes and signage, dotted the routes of major highways. Many have gone the way of the Sinclair dinosaur or metamorphosed into anonymous glass boxes with interchangeable signs, selling pantry items and deli foods, but not oil changes. Only a handful of pre-1950 filling stations still stand along US 40 and this was the only stone cottage-style station remaining on the National Road from Maryland through Illinois.
Joy Sacopulos, then President of the Indiana National Road Association, led the efforts to preserve this unusual and unique building for Terre Haute. Her ideas, vision, creativity and leadership resulted in a new use, and a new home, for the old building. A plan was devised to move the building to the campus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, located on the National Road. Rose-Hulman agreed to restore the building for adaptive reuse. Five partners worked to save the building:
- The Indiana National Road Association, an organization that promotes historic appreciation, heritage tourism and economic development for the National Road across Indiana, provided the leadership and energy to save this architectural treasure.
- Terre Haute First National Bank donated the building to the Indiana National Road Association, provided the legal double transfer of ownership, and sponsored a Send-off Celebration.
- Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Western Regional Office, advised the Indiana National Road Association on saving, valuing and preserving the building and researched logistics for the move.
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology gave the building a new home and a new life as a concession stand and restroom facility. Rose-Hulman sponsored the complete restoration of the structure after the move.
- Bill and Trish Eccles underwrote the cost of moving the building through a designated gift to Rose-Hulman. The entire project was accomplished without any Federal funds or other taxpayer money.
Moving Day
The community became aware of the project through local media coverage, and approximately 250 people turned out for a Send-off Celebration on the day of the big move. Special guests included the original owner’s family and several men who had worked at the filling station during the 1930s.
Moving a building is no small task. The roof and chimney had to be removed, so the building could fit under a railroad trestle. Shortly before the planned move, the road was unexpectedly resurfaced adding four inches of asphalt. It was touch-and-go as the old filling station passed through the trestle with only inches to spare. The building moved slowly down the road, creeping along at about the same speed that Conestoga wagons traveled the National Road in 1834.
The structure was carefully placed in the same orientation it had on its original site. It is still visibly situated on the National Road. Rose-Hulman made every effort to restore the exterior of the building to its original appearance, including the shape of the shingles, the location of exterior lighting, installation of specially made doors, use of windows with the same number of lights, and the size and shape of attic vents. Family members of the first owners furnished Rose-Hulman with valuable photographs that assisted in the exterior restoration.
Trish Eccles described the pride and enthusiasm of the Indiana National Road Association in accomplishing this ambitions project. “The Indiana National Road Association is proud and happy to be the leader of the united effort to save this historic treasure. The response of the community was overwhelming, and we hope everyone has a boost of happy energy every time they see the cottage in its new home on the historic National Road. I hope the success of our project will help others to re-train their eyes to see and appreciate their historic highways through ‘road-scape colored glasses.’ With creative thinking and vision, you can protect, preserve and promote your historic highway and its resources,” she said.