former Greenway Service Station. Highway 82 & Cedar Street Greenville, Mississippi. Built 1955
This edition of Friday is a Gas is somewhat unique because from what I can tell this station is a one-off design and not of the usual corporate designs I’ve highlighted in the past. Keeping with yesterday’s Highway 82 theme, our station is on the northeast corner of Highway 82 and Cedar Street in Greenville. The former “Greenway” Gulf Oil Service Station held its grand opening in 1955.
former Lion Oil Service Station. Highway 82 & Cedar Street Greenville, Mississippi. Built c. 1954.
You might remember that Texaco’s “Teague” station was wildly popular and many other gas station chains adopted porcelain enamel panels or a less expensive concrete finish that gave these stations the “icebox” appearance similar to the Teague design. Our station this week rejects the Art Moderne styling of the Icebox while embracing International Style design elements, such as asymmetry, the Regularity of design, stressed horizontality of the building, and the stone cladding. This is somewhat surprising as in 1955 when the Greenway Service Station was built, the Icebox design was at the height of its popularity. An example of this is the Lion Oil Service Station that was built directly across the intersection, just the year prior.
Greenway Service Station Highway 82 & Cedar Street Greenville, Mississippi. Built 1955.
According to the 2016 TxDOT Field Guide to Gas Stations in Texas, this station does not follow Gulf Oil’s standard plans of the era, of which plenty were built throughout Mississippi. These corporate Gulf Oil designs reflect the Teague influence and will be featured in a future Friday is a Gas post. Interestingly, the service bays are accessed from the side of the building, a design element that is rarely seen until the debut of the Texaco Matawan design in 1964. I had hoped to find an architect or designer for this building prior to sharing this post but I haven’t had any luck. The general contractors were Wright & Maugh of Leland, MS. Along with several of the project’s subcontractors, Wright & Maugh took out advertisements in the August 11, 1955, edition of the Delta Democrat Times congratulating the owners on the opening of their new station.
Glad to see this unique, one-off survivor still cruising along after all these years.
Did you enjoy this post on a Mississippi Gas Station? Consider checking out these other “Friday is a Gas” posts.
- Friday is a Gas: Curbside Gas Pumps (c.1910-c.1925)
- Friday is a Gas: Commercial Block Service Stations c.1920-c.1930
- Friday is a Gas: Gulf Gas Stations c.1920-c.1930
- Friday is a Gas: Sinclair Station c.1930s
- Friday is a Gas: Classical Revival Stations c.1930-?
- Friday is a Gas: Ducks vs Decorated Sheds (c.1930s-?)
- Friday is a Gas: Pan Am/Amoco Stations c.1930-c.1940
- Friday is a Gas: Cities Service Stations c.1930 – c.1950
- Friday is a Gas: Teague & The Icebox (1937-c.1955)
- Friday is a Gas: Lion Stations c.1940
- Friday is a Gas: Humble c.1950-c.1960
- Friday is a Gas: Phillips 66 Stations c.1950-c.1970s
- Friday is a Gas: Humble, Enco, Esso, and Exxon c.1960-c.1970
- The Matawan Texacos of Mississippi (1965-c.1975)
- Friday is a Gas: Booth Form Gas Stations c.1960s-c.1980
Categories: Architectural Research, Cool Old Places, Greenville, Historic Preservation
Preservation in Mississippi 
Leave a Reply