I have this quirky little collection of pictures going on.  As I travel I  take photos of old gas stations that have been repurposed into some other business, or in some rare cases, into a residence.  I also photograph vacant ones if they have a bit of character.  And occasionally I photograph one that is simply slowly falling apart.

These things are usually not very hard to spot.  For the older style ones there’s usually an overhang that’s integral to the roofline of the building, such as the classic below in Brinkley, AR.  Located right in a residential area, it is used occasionally for the meetings of a civic group.  I think it would make a great little house.

Brinkley, Arkansas (Photo by Ron Haines)

Another huge clue to spotting old stations, of course, is the pump island.   And even if the pump island has been paved over there’s usually a rise or indentation in the pavement that tells you it was dug up, or covered over.

And even without an overhang or remnants of a pump island, it’s often pretty obvious, as in the case of the beauty below in Bloomfield, CT.  The large door frames usually give it away.

Bloomfield, CT. (Photo by Ron Haines)

So most of the time I can easily recognize the building’s original purpose, snap the photos and be on my way.  Sometimes, though, I have to check to be sure.

In the case of the one below, in Reedsburg, WI, I wasn’t sure.  But there was something about that A-shaped roofline in the front that reminded me of the classic old Phillips Petroleum stations, so I took the photo anyway and checked with the gallery owner by email later.  Yes, it used to be a gas station.

Reedsburg, WI. (Photo by Ron Haines)

I know I’ve missed some that were lacking the obvious signs, or, more accurately, had clues that were so subtle I was oblivious to them.  I came across a case of this a month or so ago.

There’s a pizza restaurant in Coventry, CT, that I have passed by a hundred or so times in the last few years, and indeed have eaten at once or twice,  but had never recognized as a former gas station.

The building’s been drastically changed over the years as it morphed from a gas station (Tomassi’s Texaco) to an appliance salesroom to a liquor store to an ice cream parlor and then to a pizza restaurant.  The structure as it is today lacks the clues that usually guide me and the pump islands were long ago landscaped over, but there was one thing about the place that had remained constant through the years.

How did I find out?  I don’t remember how I got there, but one day last month I was reading a history of old service stations in Coventry written by Bill Jobbagy and I came across these words:  “The present sign in front of Coventry Pizza was originally the Texaco sign.”

Yes, Coventry Pizza, a long stone’s throw from the two lake houses I rented in Coventry for a few years, used to be a gas station!  They stopped pumping gas there in the mid 1980s and the pump islands were landscaped over years ago, but the sign remained.

So here’s a photo of it with the sign, the oh so subtle sign.

Above is the Coventry Pizza sign today.  Below is  an actual Texaco sign at a restored station in Buckley, IL.  (Photos by Ron Haines)

Go here to see my entire collection of photos of recycled gas stations.