Former Auto Gas Service Station in NY

Liebler-Rohl Gasoline Station, Lancaster New York

Date added: September 03, 2024

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The Liebler-Rohl Gasoline Station, constructed in 1935, was built at a time when the automobile had become entrenched in the scene of American transportation. This particular station bridges the architectural gap between the picturesque gasoline stations of the late 1920s and early 'thirties and the era of the "box" stations of industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague, which often incorporated Streamline Moderne massing and detailing. It is characteristic of the type of high-style stations that replaced ramshackle "gas shacks" in the wake of nationwide competitions sponsored in 1927 by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the Art Center of New York, the American Civic Association, and the Adolph Goebel Company.

Typically, gasoline stations such as this were erected on prominent corner lots, often replacing homes in residential sections. This building was built in the mid-1930s by contractor John D. Rademacher. A leading western New York State builder, Rademacher and his sons were responsible for the construction and repair of many important building throughout the region. During the Depression, this station represented a much smaller job than those with which the Rademacher firm was generally associated. The business was operated by the Lieblers and later by the Rohls. The station retained its original use into the 1960s. It was later adapted as a gift shop and later as a seasonal ice cream shop.

Building Description

The Liebler-Rohl Gasoline Station, located at 5500 Broadway, in the Village of Lancaster, New York, is ac. 1935 masonry building, one story in height and small in scale, with a floor area of 312 square feet. Originally erected as an automobile gasoline station, it is located on a flat corner lot about three blocks east of the central business district of the Village, in a neighborhood which was traditionally residential in character but which has been modified to its present mixed-use character.

The Liebler-Rohl Gasoline Station is essentially rectangular in form, with a slate-clad hipped roof with tile coping along the ridges. A triangular eyebrow window is on the west hip of the roof. The exterior surfaces of the building are parged with rough-textured stucco. The facade and east side are the most highly articulated elevations of this diminutive building. On the left side of the facade is a round-arched window beside which is the principal entrance to the building, which also incorporates a round-arched opening. Both the window and the door opening are trimmed with ornamental brickwork executed in a dark red to contrast with the off-white of the stucco. On the right side of the facade is a one-story bay window above which is a projecting gable containing an original clock in the pediment. The roofline of this feature terminates in a semi-circular curvilinear roof form. The gable is further trimmed with a half-timbered pediment, typical of the Tudor Revival style. The east side features half-timbering as well, along with a large, multi-light fixed-sash window with a curvilinear-arched head. The two-bay west elevation is minimally ornamented and is two bays in width, with a single flat-topped window unit in each bay. The two-bay rear elevation has single door openings accessing the interior of the building.

The sparse interior of this diminutive building has been adapted for its present food service-related use.

The Liebler-Rohl Gasoline Station has no associated outbuildings. The surfaces immediately surrounding the building are asphalt-paved. Any historic petroleum-associated features (pumps, pump island, etc.) have been removed.