Pan-Am, Signage, Coal, And The Size Of Church Doors

The day that Leslie and I went antique shopping, we found this old service station on the side of Hwy 11 near Steele, Alabama.  From looking at the stripes and the curved details, it was part of the old Pan-Am chain that existed across the Southeast.  Later on, I think many of them were re-branded as Amoco (which is now BP).  This one just didn’t make it but looked so different we explored a little:

Pan-Am Station, Steele AL
Pan-Am Station, Steele AL

Pan-Am Station, Steele AL

Liked these signs the best:

Pan-Am Station, Steele AL
I’m not generally ‘into’ old service station things, but there have been a few things we’ve found that are interesting…

The sweet dinosaur mascot (and the old-style lettering above the door) of this Sinclair station in Pontotoc, MS:

Old Sinclair Gas Station, Pontotoc Mississippi

…and this Woco Pep mural in York, Alabama:

WocoPep Advertising Mural, York Alabama

This sign around Utica, MS:

Quality for Less Gas Sign, Utica MS

…and this monument in the Guin, Alabama city cemetery:

Fuel Pump Monument, Guin City Cemetery, Guin AL

Fuel Pump Monument, Guin City Cemetery, Guin AL

This is a no-longer-functioning service station in Acmar, Alabama (a small mining town) that’s different because it’s made of coal.

Coal Service Station, Acmar AL

The town was built around a coal mining operation; when the owner of the company came to dedicate the United Methodist Church here in the 1920s:

Acmar United Methodist Church, Acmar AL

He said, “Father, make the door of this house we have erected to Thee wide enough to receive all those who need human love and fellowship and a Father’s care; and narrow enough to shut out all envy and hate.”

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