Click image to enlarge. Shown is a former gas station in Brewton. Everybody has seen them—the simple old gas stations that once dispensed full service with a smile—now standing empty. Some have found new uses, like the old Sinclair station that presently serves as a restaurant in Montgomery. Many, however, were abandoned as the local community disappeared or the traffic moved to a newer highway. And there they remain, overlooked, but still important to our state’s history.
A recent AAA Traveler article on old gas stations notes, “Architecture doesn’t always have to be grand to say something about the past. Sometimes it reflects a technological change that revolutionized the way people lived.” Probably no other twentieth-century invention more recently transformed our environment and lifestyles than the automobile, and gas stations are tangible reminders of this history of change. Many historic gas stations can be made useful again, while retaining their nostalgic appearance. The key to their preservation is raising awareness of the way gas station designs evolved—and what these changes can tell us about the automotive age.
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