Abandoned Phillips 66 Gas Station

Here is another image from my hometown of Elkhart, Kansas. This was taken in 2004 at the same time as the “Main Street” photo also on this blog. This is at the other end of Main Street, nearer to the highway out of town. It conjures up a nostalgic feeling and looks a little sad in its abandoned state, gas pumps long since removed, windows dark, doors boarded up. But I felt a thrill when I saw it. That solid square brick building with the jaunty red roof held up by those strong V shaped supports at the end of the canopy, under that bright blue sky. It’s not crumbling or collapsing in an unrepairable state—it maintains a solid, almost stately feeling. It could still have a new life, and this photo, when seen by anyone, gives this old gas station a purpose of sorts, to have that person know something more about a small town in southwestern Kansas.

This was the gas station that my older brother and I, sometimes with a friend or two, would come to return empty pop bottles we had collected along the various roads in and around town, circa 1960. On a good day we’d get enough money (2 cents for every bottle we returned) to buy a bottle of Coke for each of us at 10 cents a bottle, otherwise we would share a bottle.