The First Phillips 66 Station of McLean, Texas, is the pride and joy of the Old Route 66 Association of Texas. Miles of smiles and thousands of tourist photographs taken have made the station one of the most popular stops on the Mother Road.
The station's restoration did not come easily. "When we started our work, there was nothing there but the brick structure," says preservationist Delbert Trew. "All of the windows were broken. The doors were knocked out. There were no pumps. We had to re-roof, re-shingle the building. Then we repainted the entire station. To protect the building from vandalism, we sealed it with plywood and painted old windows and doors on the plywood."
Carl Day of Perryton, Texas, donated a pair of original Phillips 66 petroleum pumps to be placed on the property. An old grease pump was gifted from a garage in McLean. A drive-in ramp was donated by Bill Tidwell of Alanreed, owner of Bill Kiser's old 66 Super Service Station.
As finishing touches, a covered picnic table was installed for visitors, and a period oil truck was secured, refurbished and parked on the property. "The old truck was given to us by Bill Schoenhals—my wife's brother," says preservationist Delbert Trew. "We even found some real old-time gasoline barrels and strapped them to the truck's sides. That's how they used to deliver gasoline to the farms around here. They'd take the barrels out, drop them on the ground, then fill them up with gasoline from the truck."
Photo © 1996 by Mock Turtle Press. All rights reserved.