Former Gas Station in AR is now the Hamburger Station

Texaco Station No. 1 - Hamburger Station, Paragould Arkansas

Date added: September 11, 2024

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Constructed circa l925, the Texaco Station No. 1 (since 1985 known as the Hamburger Station) is one of only two remaining historic gas stations in Paragould.

By 1920, Paragould had grown into a thriving town of 6,306 people. Greene County's vibrant timber industry was made possible by the transportation afforded by its two railroads (known in 1920 as the Missouri Pacific and the St. Louis and Southwestern or "Cotton Belt"). The town could boast of four bands, two department stores (one containing three stories), two newspapers, a pressed brick factory, a tile factory, and ice and cold storage plant, a flour mill, two spoke factories, three cotton gins, the Missouri Pacific railroad shops, a post office, an 800-seat theater, a telephone exchange, and other assorted businesses. Paragould also claimed one of the finest hotels in Arkansas, the Vandervoort. In light of the town's prosperity, the Chamber of Commerce proudly adopted as its slogan "You'll like Paragould."

Although the railroads spawned the town of Paragould and provided economic growth in conjunction with the timber industry, a new mode of transportation, the automobile, had become popular for many people in Paragould and the surrounding countryside. Among the changes to the town's landscape brought on by the mass use of the automobile was the gas station. Nationwide, gasoline had been sold at various Main Street retail businesses before the advent of the gas station. According to John Jakle and Keith A. Sculle in The Gas Station in America, this new commercial building species would be found in every town and city in the county.

Olan Lewis was the first owner and operator of the Texaco Station in 1924. However by 1939, according to the Paragould City Directory, the Texaco Station No. 1 was owned and operated by E. D. Woodburn, who also owned the Texaco Station No. 2 located at Second and Poplar. As stated by Paul West a long time resident of the area, since the mid-1940s the gas station has changed products a number of times including Esso and Standard Oil. He also remembers it being used as a bus station. Paul West ran a used car dealership out of the building for fifteen years before it was sold on 1^st October 1985, to Dottie Biddick and Marky Collum. They began the Hamburger Station restaurant and drive-thru after making an addition to the rear of the building. Marky Collum remembers that the only change they made to the building was the installation of cabinets, and a stove, the exterior was already painted white and red and the single pane stationary windows were previously installed. The current owner, Bert Daggett worked for the restaurant a number of years, and purchased the business in 1998.

Site Description

The Texaco Station No. 1 (now known as the Hamburger Station) at the northwest corner of Main Street and Pruett Street is situated just outside the commercial district of Paragould. One block to the west of the building is US Hwy 49B, and two blocks to the south are Arkansas Highways 412 and 69. Making use of the building's prominent location, the station now serves as a restaurant. The brick building, constructed circa 1925, is a good example of a small "house-with-canopy" Mission-influenced gas station with a small frame addition on the rear of its one-room core. A hipped roof covers the entire structure.

Detailed Description

Located at 110 East Main Street, the Texaco Station No. 1 is a single-story, rectangular plan station of the "house-with-canopy" type that predominated in early gas station design. Resting upon a continuous concrete foundation, the "house" and dual columns are constructed of brick that is now painted white and red. The original color of the brick was reddish brown and accentuated on the corners by buff bricks laid in a quoin effect. Beaded board covers the soffit of the eaves. The pairs of brackets that decorate the corners of the roofline and the terra cotta tile-hipped roof are the major Mission-influenced details of the building. One exterior brick chimney pierces the wide eave overhang of the roof on the rear elevation. After the location was abandoned by the Texaco franchise, the building was leased as a small used car lot, and in the 1980s reused as a restaurant.

The front (north) facade is dominated by the car shelter that is supported by a pair of brick columns. Beneath the hipped roof canopy, where people once parked their cars and full-service gas station attendants once escaped the weather, customers of the restaurant can now enjoy their lunches on a pair of picnic tables. Situated between a pair of single-pane stationary windows (one infilled by a large menu), is a doorway that has been retrofitted with a small service window.

The side elevations were originally identical. When the building was rehabilitated into a restaurant, a window was infilled on the east elevation.

The rear elevation contains the 1985 addition to the building, and a window near the southwest corner contains a window that was infilled to install a stove vent. The vertical board addition is positioned over the original exterior access near the southeast corner of the main building. The gable roof addition contains the drive-thru window, a preparation area, and storage facilities. The addition is fenestrated by double-hung, one-over-one, aluminum frame windows on its south and west elevations. The south window also functions as the drive-thru pick-up window.