Shell Service Station (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

The Shell Service Station in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a former filling station constructed in 1930 following a decision in the 1920s by the new local Shell distributor, Quality Oil Company, to bring brand awareness to the market in Winston-Salem. The building is an example of representational or novelty architecture and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 13, 1976. It is located in the Waughtown-Belview Historic District at the corner of Sprague and Peachtree Streets.

Shell Shaped Shell Service Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
This Shell Service Station is the only one to survive today from a total of eight built in the Winston-Salem area
Location	Sprague and Peachtree Sts., NW, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Coordinates	36°4′4″N 80°12′51″W
Area	0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built	1930 (1930)
Built by	Blum, Frank L.,& Co.
NRHP reference No.	76001322[1]
Added to NRHP	May 13, 1976

History

This single-story Shell station, in the shape of a giant scallop shell, was built by R.H. Burton and his son, Ralph, in 1930 at Sprague and Peachtree Streets in Winston-Salem. The owners of the oil company decided to attract customers through a series of shell-shaped service stations. They built at least eight in the Winston-Salem area, but the station at Sprague and Peachtree is the only one remaining. The Shell station speaks to the literalism prevalent in some advertising during the 1920s and 1930s.^[2][3]

Preservation

Preservation North Carolina, an organization dedicated to the preservation of historic sites, spent one year and $50,000 to bring the landmark station back to its original condition. Workers removed layers of faded yellow paint to reveal the Shell's original yellow-orange color. The original front door was repaired and a crack fixed that had been previously sealed with nothing more than black tar. The wooden, trellised shelter that housed the car wash and allowed cars to be washed and/or serviced in the shade was reconstructed as well. Quality Oil Company donated restored gas pumps and replica lamp posts to help finish off the restoration. The landmark now serves as a museum for Preservation North Carolina.^[4][2]

See also

• Airplane Service Station, 1930 Powell, Tennessee station built in the shape of an airplane
• Beam's Shell Service Station and Office, 1930 Shell station also on the NRHP
• Teapot Dome Service Station, 1922 Zillah, Washington station built in the shape of a teapot

Notes

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. Determining the Facts Reading 1: Representational Architecture, Roadside Attractions, National Park Service.
3. Brent Glass and Mary Alice Hinson (October 1975). "Shell Service Station" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
4. "The Last Shell Station: Remnants Of Another Era In Winston-Salem". February 24, 2017.

External links

• Shell Station at oldgas.com - with a photograph of a shell-shaped station during construction
• Preservation North Carolina details of the restoration project
• “Roadside Attractions”, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan