| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History.
City of Green Bay, Wisconsin - Architectural and Historical Intensive Survey Report Phase 1 - 2021
2009- "According to a thematic article entitled "Fill 'er Up: The Evolution of Gas Stations in Wisconsin" developed by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, gas stations evolved from the livery stable, which provided travel necessities in the pre-automobile era. The gasoline pump was invented in 1895, which led to the development of curbside stations around 1915. (Prior to the pump, drivers had either stored gasoline in drums at their residence, or purchased it from hardware or grocery stores, where the fuel was poured into the gas tank through a funnel.) Curbside stations were usually located in front of existing hardware or grocery stores, with a pump at the edge of the sidewalk and underground storage tanks. The shed-style station also began to emerge in the late 1910s. Shed stations were utilitarian structures, which gradually evolved into filling stations as oil companies began to expand into residential neighborhoods.
Filling stations built in residential neighborhoods often borrowed the Period Revival styles of the surrounding houses. Interior spaces included office space, a retail area, and restrooms. The men's restroom entrance was located inside the station, encouraging impulse buys from the retail displays. Women's restrooms were typically accessed from the exterior, providing a more discreet entrance. Filling stations originally only sold gas but eventually grew to include service bays for repair. In the 1920s, oil companies began adopting a "corporate image" that included trademarks, brand names, and easily-identifiable gas stations. Early standardized gas stations typically fell into one of two categories: either residential-inspired Period Revival styles, or exotic designs like windmills, log cabins, or Oriental pagodas.
During the Depression, retailers began experimenting with a new type of station designed to attract attention. The new oblong-box style station was streamlined, functional, and relied on the International Style for inspiration. These stations often had flat roofs and were clad in terra cotta or porcelain enamel panels, often painted in company colors.
The Clark Oil Company adopted an oblong box-style station as its standardized design in the early 1950s. Clark had begun in Milwaukee in 1932. Emory T. Clark, the founder, employed a strategy offering efficient, quick, no-frills service. His stations only sold premium gas and did not generally include service bays. Clark's premium-only policy and insistence on high-traffic locations resulted in sales which were almost twice the national average. In 1953, the year that the Velp Avenue gas station was built, Clark operated 158 stations in the Midwest. In 1954, Clark operated 326 stations, and by the early 1960s the company owned nearly 700 stations. By 1970, Clark had grown to 1,489 stations and was the most successful oil refiner and retailer in the Midwest.
In June of 1953, Clark Oil leased the parcel of land along Velp Avenue from Herman and Fannie Miller. Later that year, the current structure was built. The gas station operated as a Clark station until 1967, when it became Glen's Gas and Oil, with Clark still holding the lease and Glen Baugniet operating the station. In 1980, Herman Miller, the property co-owner, passed away, and his wife Fannie became the sole property holder. In 1981, Clark Oil transferred the lease to Baugniet. In 1992, Fannie Miller passed away and her daughter inherited the property. In late 2007, the station was renamed Dan's Gas and Oil but closed in October 2008. As of March 2009, the lease was held by Glen Baugniet and Marilyn Miller Weinstein owned the property.
Like many other gasoline companies, Clark utilized a standardized station design for efficient construction and to reinforce a brand identity. Hundreds of similar oblong box stations were built across the Midwest However, oblong box stations only remained popular through the 1950s. Beginning around 1960, gas stations began the pendulum swing back towards postwar Ranch or Colonial Revival-style residential details. In the 1970s, stations moved away from full-service pumps and began including a large canopy over the pumps to shelter drivers while they pumped their own gas. This type of station has evolved into the familiar convenience store with a large freestanding canopy over self-serve pumps.
The Clark gas station at 1006 Velp Avenue is an intact example of the gas station commonly built during the 1950s. It has a functional, streamlined appearance reflecting the company's quick, efficient service strategy. The large windows were typical for stations of this era for promoting automobile products as well as gasoline. The station's interior is also typical and unchanged. The exterior has not been altered and retains its integrity of design, materials, workmanship, and feeling. The property also retains good integrity of setting, design, and association. In particular, it retains the pervasive chain link fence and angled corner billboard characteristically associated with Clark stations. The non-contributing sign located at the street corner does not retain enough integrity of design, workmanship, materials, or feeling to be considered a contributing element and does not readily suggest the "Clark gas station" typology indicated by the fence, billboard, and station building.
The Clark gas station is important as a type of construction specifically related to one of the most significant developments in the twentieth century, the rise of the automobile. Gas stations are pervasive, but good historic examples are becoming a rare resource. Mid-century "oblong boxes," in particular, have long been overlooked as historic resources. This building, as a fine and relatively intact example of this important type of resource related to the growth and development of the automobile, is significant and eligible for the National Register."
-"Clark Oil Gas Station", WisDOT ID 1450-04/06-00, Prepared by Justin Miller & Jennifer R. Harvey (GLARC), 2009. |
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