Snap Shot of History
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Kellerton Oil Company in 1924.
BY MIKE AVITT
I borrowed this postcard before I got a computer so I had an 8×10 color copy made and returned the postcard. While in possession of the original picture postcard, I could make out the 1924 license plate and the sign on the roof – “Kellerton Oil Co.”
As far as I know, this filling station was the fourth one in Ringgold County being built in 1922 by U. S. G. Lynch. I know Mr. Lynch was engaged in the meat market business in Mount Ayr at this time and I don’t believe he ever lived in Kellerton. The filling station opened January 13, 1923 and the building still stands today.
I also read a ladies group, probably the Women’s Federated Club, was working towards the construction of a restroom for the station. And here’s why.
This street was State Highway 3 in 1923 and the station would be patronized by many folks from out of town and out of state. Automobile travel escalated greatly after World War I, creating the need for service stations. The service station would be a reflection of the Kellerton community.
The Kellerton centennial book says brothers Harry and Ora Fugate bought the station from O. C. Hull in 1944. At some point, Ora and his son Dean took over the firm and I believe Dean still had it in the 1980s. The concrete block addition was constructed in 1960 and provided an indoor hoist and storage room for tires. I believe this was a Phillips 66 station for most of its life.
Chet and Norma Munyon began selling gas at Munyon’s Mini Mart in June 1984 and the Kellerton Oil Company was sold at public auction on July 7, 1984.
The centennial book has several pictures of the Kellerton Oil Co. but none of the other stations and there were many. There was a Standard Station on the corner where the Family Worship Center Church’s parking lot is now. There was also a Skelly Station but I don’t know where.
Glenn Robinson, Frank Chandler, Dale Schlapia, Earl Dugan, Lyle Spencer, Don Harvey, Kenneth Mickael, Clyde Jeter, and Ralph Dorn were all associated with filling stations in Kellerton’s history. Ralph Dorn built the second station in Kellerton where the post office sits today.
About 1938, Highway 3 was re-routed around town and a filling station was built out on the new highway. In 1927, a station was built across the road south of the town park by W. H. Cone. I’ll keep reading the old newspapers and maybe I’ll find some more.
