A ‘filling station’ to cherish

I have relished the sight of the little gas station at the foot of McClure Hill for some time now, and was pleased to see it restored to its former glory. When I learned that my friend Mack Henson was responsible, I asked him to meet me there so I could learn more about it directly from him. As always, I learned more than I expected to.
The "Filling Station" was built c.1914 and operated for many years by Mack’s grandfather, Sherman S. McClure. He was known as "S.S." and probably named the station "Silver Springs" because of his initials. Speaking of names, since "Jervey Curve" up near Melrose on US176 is called that because Dr. Allen Jervey’s daughter lost her life when a car full of young people went off the road and down into the rocky Pacolet River bed below, I wondered if that hill memorialized a similarly unfortunate McClure. Not so; it got its name because S.S. owned property on both sides of the present US 176 from the state line almost to the top of the hill.
The enclosed part of the building is original, but Mack replaced the canopy that extends to the original brick pillars because he thought it posed a danger to anyone walking under it. As the restoration proceeded, Roy Williams helped him find some of the artifacts that had disappeared, including the tall gasoline pump with the handle on the side. Roy also provided the light fixture that illuminates the big oval Esso sign on the post that is taller than the building.
The sign is oval because that was the shape of the gasoline tank on the semi-trailers that delivered gasoline to all the little Esso "filling stations." The trailers had the blue border and red "Esso" lettering on the back end of the tank. They also had a steel chain dragging at the back to discharge static electricity because the rubber tires insulated the truck from the ground. Nowadays, there is no chain; they clip a ground wire from the truck to the metal of the underground tank before draining gasoline into it.
The last year of my father’s life saw him taking this seven-year-old to the Filling Station with him on Saturday mornings. The owner became a friend, and he would cheerfully work the handle to pump maybe ten gallons of gasoline up into the glass tank, then put the hose nozzle into the filler neck of our car, and squeeze the handle to let the gasoline run into our tank by gravity. Then he would wash the windshield, check the oil and water levels, and even the tire pressures because the porous rubber "inner tubes" would lose several pounds of air pressure in a week. Sometimes he would put the car on the lift to change the oil or lubricate the chassis, and we’d have time for more visiting. I think the gasoline cost Dad about twenty cents a gallon then; imagine the station owner doing all that work for a lot less than a dollar in profit!
Many stations did not have a lift or even a pit for changing oil or lubrication. Instead, there would be a couple of wooden "piers," well supported and braced, spaced to accept the wheels of a car to drive out over sloping ground to allow room underneath for a man to work on the car’s underside. I missed seeing any of these means at the present Silver Springs station.
There is, however, a tank with a cranked pump on top for dispensing kerosene into the customer’s can. It is outside, because the smell of kerosene permeates the whole inside of a building. There is also a quart bottle with a metal spout screwed on it for adding a quart of oil to a car engine from a bulk oil tank similar to the one for kerosene.
There is a rubber container for battery water, with a well for keeping the "baster" used for transferring the distilled water to the battery cells. Rubber because if the cell were overfilled, water would be drawn back out of the battery, and since it would then contain battery acid, it would not eat a hole in the rubber container.
Someone brought Mack a Mileage device from Silver Springs, Florida, which now sits prominently on the counter. The die cast metal case has a lot of raised lettering on it lauding Silver Springs and local attractions, and has slots through which to view the drum inside which gives place names, miles from Silver Springs, and the routes to take to get there. Map-Quest without a computer — or even electricity!
Mack’s presence at the station brought several visitors. Roy Williams seemed to be as pleased with the little Filling Station as Mack is.
There is no telling what else Roy might contribute to bring it further to life. The pump had lost its prime, so I will have to go back down there soon and pump, not stale gasoline, but dyed cooking oil up and get some more pictures. Do you think maybe somebody else likes that place as much as Mack and Roy do?