Showing posts with label Tom Donovan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Donovan. Show all posts

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Tom Donovan Texaco Station @ Sunset and Figueroa

 


This might be the best shot of that intersection at Figueroa and Sunset in Los Angeles.  That gas station, I believe, is a Gilmore Gasol, where Tom Donovan's old Texaco station used to be in the 1960s.


Caption reads, "(1924)  View looking east toward the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Figueroa Street.  A Gilmore service station can be seen on the NE corner.  The Orsini Apartment Complex is now situated at this site."

Note the street-level Silverwoodsbill board on the east side of the Gilmore Gasol property.  Silverwoods is where Dad used to shop for clothes in their store on Lake Avenue in Pasadena.  

An interesting note about Gilmore Service stations.  
Built in 1935, this Art Deco gas station was designed by R.J. Kadow, and was one of the original service stations for the Gilmore Oil Company. The Gilmore family is a longtime Los Angeles institution, having acquired the Rancho La Brea in the mid 19th century. In the early 20th century, oil discoveries on Gilmore land brought about a new fortune in petroleum. The Gilmore family went on to establish Farmer’s Market (HCM #543), which was built alongside the original Gilmore Adobe. They also established the Gilmore Bank, built Gilmore Field for the Hollywood Stars, a minor league baseball team, and also sponsored midget race cars on a small race track. Both the field and the racetrack were later replaced by CBS Television Central. The Gilmore Station itself remained with the company until its merger with Mobile Oil in the 1940s. The station was later leased by Texaco, and today serves as a hand-car-wash facility and movie set.

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Sunset and Figueroa, where Tom Donovan's Texaco station was located

Well, I don't see a Texaco star in this shot, so it's not a Texaco station, but it was a gasoline station in 1924.  You might be able to get a larger view of the scene from Facebook.


Okay, in this second shot, the gas station [seen at the bottom left] does have a Texaco star sign right at the corner.  1954.  Kind of neat.  This was Donovan's station.  I don't know how long he owned the station, but Dad stopped for gas here regularly.  It was close to his ride home, the Pasadena Freeway, and his work down at 1st & Hill.