These days a trip to a gas station is mainly to fill up your tank or charge your electric vehicle. But for years, going to a gas station meant not only getting fuel but maybe also having your oil changed or procuring a new set of drinking glasses. Kalamazoo’s first filling station opened in 1912 and was connected to an auto dealership. As the number of automobiles in the city grew, so did the number of gas stations. By 1924 the city directory listed 31 gas stations, and by 1942 that number had reached 152 — comparable to the number of grocery stores in the city at the time. With that much competition, gas stations had to be creative to attract customers. These are a few of my favorite filling stations from our city’s past:
Cities Service
355 E. Kalamazoo Ave.
In 1926, Benjamin Rose opened a tire store on the northwest corner of East Kalamazoo Avenue and Porter Street. Four years later this Mission Revival structure, which provided a home for the Quality Tire Co., was completed. It was built of cream-colored and red bricks and boasted steel girders and a green tile roof. Although it primarily sold tires, it also provided amenities such as lubrication and brake service and sold gas from its seven pumps. It is not known exactly when the establishment stopped being a service station, but subsequent owners of the building sold radiators, water softeners and home appliances. In 1995 the building became part of Bell’s Eccentric Café, and the former tire store and gas station now houses Bell’s General Store.
Windmill Service Station
924 E. Michigan Ave.
This is definitely one of the most unusual gas stations ever to exist in Kalamazoo. In 1928, Otto Gerline, owner of the brass foundry in the photograph, opened the station, located on East Michigan Avenue east of downtown. The station was designed by the architectural firm Rockwell LeRoy and Manuel Newlander, and its exterior featured a windmill design that had four rotating blades decorated with blue and yellow lights. A separate building provided lubrication, with drive-through service. Souvenirs distributed at the station’s grand opening included photographs of Gerline and his saxophone. Large advertisements promoting the station’s services were published in the Kalamazoo Gazette on a regular basis, and the station’s blue lights could be seen from a distance. The station was listed in the Kalamazoo city directory in 1938 but not in 1939.
Heiney and Altland Filling Station
526 S. Burdick St.
This small gas station, which was owned by Oliver Heiney and John Altland, was completed around 1931 as a Conoco station and sat on the northwest corner of West Walnut and South Burdick streets. It was typical of what could be found in many neighborhoods in the Kalamazoo area during the early to mid-20th century. Four gas pumps were more than sufficient, and one of the services the station offered was greasing, a process of lubricating all moving parts of a vehicle separate from those lubricated by oil or fuel. Over the years this station had many owners. It stopped being a gas station around 1965 but remained the site for other businesses. It came down in 1976 and is now a parking lot.
Triangle Service Station
315 E. Water St.
This gas station, originally called the Colonial Oil Co., was located at the intersection of East Water Street and East Kalamazoo Avenue. At its opening on Nov. 29, 1930, it offered seven gallons of gas for $1, plus souvenirs for everyone, including ladies and children. The name of the station changed over the years, but the name that stuck the longest and was the most appropriate was the Triangle Service Station. Lester Rice, who stands proudly in this photograph, owned the station for 32 years. Along with gas and greasing services, the station might also have a used car or two for sale and offer premiums like drinking glasses. Moving into this space in 1993 was Water Street Coffee Joint, where customers still fill up but in a different way.
Seydel Brothers
702-704 W. Michigan Ave.
An article in the Kalamazoo Gazette in September 1930 announced the impending completion of the area’s 12th Dixie Courtesy Station. Located on the northwest corner of Allen Boulevard and West Michigan Avenue, the Mission Revival-style building fit in well with surrounding structures. Five years later, Erwin Seydel, who sold tires, and his brother Hardy, who sold automobiles, purchased the Dixie Courtesy Station, renamed it, and began offering a wide variety of services, including auto repair, wrecker service and vulcanizing, a process of repairing tires. Erwin continued to own the station until 1966. It later became a used car lot, then a restaurant and then a sign business. The building still exists and is currently vacant.
