Pulver Brothers Filling Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Pulver Brothers Filling Station
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| Location | 127 W. Grand River Ave., Lansing, Michigan |
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| Built | 1923 |
| Architectural style | Craftsman |
| NRHP reference No. | 16000507 |
| Added to NRHP | August 4, 2016 |
The Pulver Brothers Filling Station is an old gas station building. You can find it at 127 W. Grand River Avenue in Lansing, Michigan. This special building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. This means it's an important historical place!
Contents
History of the Building
How the Gas Station Started
Back in the early 1920s, a man named Elmer Pulver owned a hardware store. He and his brother, Benjamin, decided to start a new business. They created the Pulver Brothers Sinclair Oil company. This company worked with the well-known Sinclair Oil Corporation.
The brothers quickly built several gas stations. By 1924, they had four stations around Lansing. The station on Grand River Avenue was one of these, built in 1923. They added a fifth station in 1925. By 1930, the Pulver Brothers owned eight gas stations in total.
Changes Over the Years
The Pulver Brothers ran this specific gas station until 1938. After that, other people took over and kept it running as a gas station. This continued until 1953.
After 1953, the building was no longer a gas station. It became a dry cleaner's shop until 1956. Then, the building was empty for a long time, until 2009.
New Life for the Old Station
In 2009, the building was fixed up and made new again. In 2011, it opened as a drive-through coffee shop and cafe. The coffee shop closed in 2014. But the building found new life again! In the spring of 2016, it reopened as Scoop's Ice Cream Parlor.
What the Station Looks Like
Building Style and Materials
The Pulver Brothers Filling Station is a small building. It has only one story. It is made of brown brick and stucco. The roof is red and made of a special type of tile called terra cotta.
The building's style is called Craftsman. This style was popular for buildings in the 1920s.
Design of a 1920s Gas Station
This station's design shows how gas stations often looked in the 1920s. It has a small "house" part. Attached to this "house" is a roof that sticks out, called a canopy. This canopy covered the area where cars would pull up to get gas.
The "house" part of the building is about 12 feet wide and 20 feet long. The bottom part is made of brick, and the top part is stucco. Brick columns go up each corner of the building. Two more brick columns stand 23 feet in front of the "house." These columns help hold up the canopy.
The main door to the building is in the front. On each side of this door are two large windows. Each window has four small panes of glass on top and one large pane on the bottom. There is also another entrance on the opposite corner of the building.
