Roundtop Filling Station facts for kids
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Roundtop Filling Station
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 Location in Arkansas
Location in the United States
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| Location | Intersection of Roundtop and Trammel Roads, Sherwood, Arkansas |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1936 |
| Built by | The Justin Matthews Company |
| Architectural style | Novelty architecture - transportation; American Movement: Bungalow/Craftsman; Late 19th and 20th Century Revival: Mission/Spanish Revival |
| MPS | Arkansas Highway History and Architecture, 1910-1965 |
| NRHP reference No. | 07001432 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Open for Operation | 1936 |
| Closed for Operation | 1981 |
| Added to NRHP | 2008 |
The Roundtop Filling Station is a special old building in Sherwood, Arkansas, USA. It's one of only two buildings in Sherwood that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's an important historical site!
Contents
Building a Unique Gas Station
The Roundtop Filling Station was built in 1936. It was made by the Justin Matthews Company for the Pierce Oil Company. Pierce Oil was a company that started after the big Standard Oil Company was broken up by the U.S. government in 1911. Pierce Oil had gas stations in many states, like Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, and even in Mexico.
In 1936, Pierce Oil asked the Justin Matthews Company to build a gas station with a very unique shape. People believe that Frank Carmean, an architect from Matthews' company, designed it. Brothers C.C. and Powderley Eubanks built the station. It was placed along U.S. Highway 67.
A Look Back at the Station's History
Wallace David "Happy" Williford was a student at Jacksonville High School. He also worked at another Pierce Oil station. The company asked him to run the new Roundtop station. Happy agreed and worked there before and after school. He even paid other men to work for him during school hours. It was hard to find people who would work for only $3.50 a week!
For rent, Pierce Oil charged Happy two cents for every gallon of gas he sold. At first, the station didn't have electric gas pumps. Happy and his workers had to pump the gas by hand into a glass bowl before filling a car's tank.
Changing Brands Over the Years
Around 1940, the Roundtop station became a Sinclair station. This happened after the Sinclair Oil Company bought Pierce Oil. Around this time, electric pumps were finally put in!
In the early 1950s, Sinclair sold many of its stations in Arkansas. The Roundtop was one of them. It was bought by the Phillips Petroleum Company and became a Phillips 66 station. In the 1970s, it changed again to a DX station. When it closed in 1981, it was a Sunoco station. This was because Sun Oil Company had bought DX.
Happy Williford's Ownership
By 1957, Happy Williford had saved enough money to buy the station for $8,000. Business was going very well! Happy even opened another gas station in North Little Rock. It was near where Dickey-Stephens Park is today.
Happy later closed that station and opened another one. During this time, he leased the Roundtop station to other people. He came back to run the Roundtop himself in the mid-1970s. He operated it until he retired and closed the business in 1981.
New Owners and Donations
In 1989, Wayne Ball, a local auctioneer, helped Happy Williford sell the Roundtop. Wayne Ball had actually worked at the station when he was younger! George E. Brown, a businessman, bought the station. He planned to fix up the old building. However, Mr. Brown passed away before he could do this. In 1999, his family gave the station to the City of Sherwood. The city had taken over the area in 1975.
In 2010, the Roundtop was even featured in a movie! It was called "The Last Ride," a film about Hank Williams, Sr. The movie was directed by Harry Thomasson, who is from Arkansas. Scenes filmed at the Roundtop included the character of Hank Williams, his young driver Silas, and his girlfriend.
Bringing the Roundtop Back to Life
For many years, the old gas station sat empty. It became a target for people who would damage it or steal things. In the mid-2000s, Linda Nickle, who worked for Sherwood's Economic Development, pushed for the station to be fixed up. Because of her efforts, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
In January 2013, Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman chose Darrell W. Brown to lead the first Sherwood History and Heritage Committee. Darrell Brown had lived in Sherwood his whole life and worked for the Department of Arkansas Heritage. He started working to get money to help restore the Roundtop.
On June 5, 2013, the City of Sherwood got good news! The Governor's office told them they received a $50,000 grant. This money was for the Roundtop project and came from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
The committee is thinking about fixing the gas station to look just like it did when it was new. They are also considering turning it into a Sherwood Police substation.
A Fire at the Station
On November 2, 2014, a fire caused damage to the outside of the building. This happened just a few days before it was supposed to open to the public again. The Sherwood police reported that it was an attempt to set the building on fire.
