An historic "oil station" on an historic site

Not that long ago, this vintage "oil station" at the intersection of North Main and Roland in Chariton took a direct hit from an out-of-control vehicle and the service bays to the south were badly damaged. As you've probably noticed, the damage has been repaired now --- except for fresh paint --- and the building given a new lease on life.

That's good news for the Lucas County Courthouse Square Historic District and for a structure built here in its original form 93 years ago, during the summer of 1926.

Before that, the Gardner House --- a family home, boarding house and hotel --- had been located on this corner since Chariton's earliest days. 

The transition from one era and one use to another was noted on the front page of The Herald-Patriot of Jan. 7, 1926, in an article headlined "Gardner House Thing of the Past" that provides some insight into the history of the site, as follows:

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One of the old landmarks in Chariton, the Gardner House, located one block north of the northwest corner of the square, is to be supplanted by a new, up-to-date oil station. The building, which belongs to the B. R. Van Dyke estate, is to undergo many changes. The south half of the building, constructed of old native lumber, is being torn down and the north half, which also contains much old native lumber, will be remodeled and moved to the west part of the lot, where it will face north. A basement will be put under it and when completed it will be a modern cottage.

The front 50 feet of the lot, facing the east, and where the Gardner House now stands, has been leased to the Shaffer Oil and Refining Company, but the Deep Rock Petroleum Company will have charge of a new oil station which will be erected on the grounds.

The Gardner House was erected probably in the early 1850s as Mr. N. B. Gardner purchased the property in 1855 of John Edwards, and it has been owned continuously in the same family since that time, a period of seventy-five years.

After purchasing the residence, Mr. Gardner added to the building until it was a commodious structure. He and Mrs. Gardner conducted a boarding and rooming house there for years. Mrs. Gardner passed away in 1890, but Mr. Gardner and daughter, Minnie, conducted the hostelry until 1896. In this building, all the Gardner children, Frank, now deceased, Mrs. Ella Van Dyke, of this city, Mrs. Minnie Wiltsey, who passed away a few years ago, and Dell and Fred Gardner, now of Chicago, all grew to years of maturity. Since the Gardner family ceased to occupy it as a home, it has been conducted by different ones as a boarding and rooming house, but has always been known as the Gardner House.

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I'll have more to say about Nelson B. Gardner another time, but here's an image of the city block bounded by North Main and North 11th streets and Braden and Roland avenues from an 1899 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that shows the location of the Gardner House.

Note that the building currently housing the Hurribak Club, south of the Gardner House on the alley, was serving as a billiards hall in 1899.

The Bates Hotel site as well as the grounds of the house to the west currently are occupied by Midwest Heritage Bank.