It’s been nearly a hundred years since the Texaco station opened on Highway 21 in Wytheville – selling gasoline for thirteen cents a gallon. The town was small, but plenty of people passed through according to Michael Gilman, local manager of historic sites.
“It was a little stopping point on a highway known as the Great Lakes to Florida Highway, which stretched from Cleveland, Ohio to Jacksonville, Florida," Gilman explains. "It technically was the Interstate for everybody traveling south or north at that time.”
Construction of Interstate 77 put the place out of business, but the old pumps remain, along with the building which serves as a museum.
It features original wood floors and counters, a peanut machine, adding machine and cash register, wood-burning stove, a vintage Coke machine, an antique sign promoting Pepsi, mechanics’ tools, license plates and photos reminding visitors of the early days when road trips were often an adventure.
