Soulsby Service Station

The Soulsby Service Station is a historic service station in Mount Olive, Illinois. The station is located along historic U.S. Route 66 and is the oldest usable service station on the highway in Illinois. It serves as an example of the house and canopy gas station design.

Soulsby Service Station
Soulsby Service Station is located in Illinois
Soulsby Service Station
Soulsby Service Station is located in the United States
Soulsby Service Station
Location710 West First Street, Mount Olive, Illinois
Coordinates39°4′23″N 89°44′8″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1926
ArchitectSoulsby, Henry
Architectural styleHouse and Canopy Gas Station
MPSRoute 66 through Illinois MPS
NRHP reference No.04000420 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 06, 2004

Henry Soulsby built the station in 1926 after an injury forced him to leave the mining industry[2] and operated it along with his children Russell and Ola Soulsby. His son Russell, a World War II naval communications technician, operated a radio and TV repair business out of the station as Interstate 55 diverted highway traffic away from the site in the late 1950s.

The station stopped pumping gas in 1991[3] and closed in 1993; plans currently exist to reopen it as a museum.[4]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Soulsby Service Station--Route 66: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary". US National Park Service.
  3. Kye Miller (2009). "Route 66: History, Myth and Memory". Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27.
  4. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Soulsby Service Station" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
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