For nearly 80 years, a squat little building on Main Street in Centerville pumped gas, fixed tires and became a fixture in people’s lives long after it stopped doing either. Now, with the death of its namesake owner in June, Ron Randall’s Service Station is up for sale, and the community that grew up around it is hoping whoever buys it keeps the building standing.
The station dates back to 1948, according to FOX 13 News, and Ron Randall and his brother built the original structure themselves. The current building replaced it after a windstorm destroyed the earlier station in 1959, according to the Davis Journal. The station sold its last tank of gas in 1998, yet it still looks the part, down to vintage signage advertising gas at $1.87 a gallon.
Randall passed away in June, prompting his family to put the property up for sale, FOX 13 News reports. The station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2017, per the Davis Journal, though that designation alone does not prevent a future owner from redeveloping or even demolishing the building.
A Landmark Built on Full Service and Familiar Faces
Randall’s station was known for the kind of full-service treatment that has mostly vanished from American gas stations: pumping gas, cleaning windshields and checking oil levels, the Davis Journal notes. Randall himself was often found sitting in a chair out front, greeting neighbors as they passed, the station’s report states…