Shamrock Texas Tower Conoco Gas Station 1935. (original) (raw)
The Tower Conoco, a sort of Taj Mahal of Texas gas stations, was built in 1935 when times were hard. Situated at an important intersection of former Route 66 and Highway 83, it would�ve been the first �foreign� station encountered by Oklahomans heading west on their famous exodus from the Dust Bowl.
The station has recently been restored and is now one of the more famous artifacts on old 66 (currently Interstate 40).
by Clay Coppedge
"...Architect Joe Berry designed it as three buildings in one: the Tower Conoco Station, named for the four-sided obelisk rising from a flat roof and topped by a metal tulip; the U-Drop Inn Caf�, which a local schoolboy named by winning a naming contest; and a retail store. The caf� was so popular that the proposed store never materialized, utilized instead to seat more hungry customers.
In its heyday, the U-Drop-Inn was the only restaurant within 100 miles, small, vibrant art deco oasis on Route 66 set against a backdrop of unrelenting realism... " Read full article
A closer view of the immaculately restored Conoco pumps at the Tower Conoco station.
Photo courtesy Noel Kerns, January 2008
A watercolor / lithograph of the Tower Conoco Station by famed watercolorist Dana Forrester.
| The beautiful Tower Conoco station in Shamrock, Texas was used as the inspiration for �Ramone�s Body Shop� in the Disney/Pixar movie �Cars�. | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |