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Standard Oil Gasoline Station

Retro roadside
In Odell, Illinois
On Route 66
National Register of Historic Places

The Standard Oil Gasoline Station is a restored 1932 filling station in Odell, IL, on the old Route 66 alignment through the village. Contractor Patrick O'Donnell built it in the house-and-canopy style, after a Standard Oil of Ohio design from 1916. It pumped gas until 1967, was bought by the village in 1999 for restoration and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

What is Standard Oil Gasoline Station?

A small station shaped like a cottage, with a canopy reaching out over the pump island. The service bays on the side were added later, when at least nine other stations along this stretch of Odell were competing for the same drivers. It stands on a narrow lot on the southwest side of the village.

History of Standard Oil Gasoline Station

O'Donnell bought the land in 1932 and built the station to lease to his son. It sold Standard Oil products at first, changed to Phillips 66 by 1940 and later to Sinclair. Robert Close leased it from 1952, bought it after O'Donnell died and kept doing body work here until 1999, long after the pumps stopped in 1967. A bypass around Odell had taken away most of the traffic in 1946. The Route 66 Association of Illinois nominated the station for the National Register, where it was listed in 1997.

Visiting Standard Oil Gasoline Station: tips

It is a short stop, easy to photograph from outside. The center of Odell is about 0.4 miles away, and Ambler's Texaco Gas Station in Dwight, another restored station, is about 8 miles up the road toward Chicago.