Threatt Filling Station Sticker 2.91” X 3”

Drive three miles east of Luther on U.S. 66, and you will arrive at a quiet intersection where old Route 66 and Pottawatomi Road meet at right angles. The historic Threatt Filling Station, an early gas station that catered to African American travelers along Route 66, is difficult to miss.  It’s the only building there.

Built around 1915 using local sandstone, the “house type” station has Bungalow/Craftsman features typical of the period.  Each of its four gables has wide eaves and triangular braces.  The prominent front-facing gable is positioned over wide double-entry doors.  That entry used to have spring-loaded screen doors, the kind that banged, bounced, and banged again when people came and went.  The original 1915 gasoline pumps had glass containers on top so the attendant could measure how much gas went into the car.  In their place now are two 1940s enamel pumps complete with the old geared system to indicate the flow of gas with clicking metal numbers.  The signage that used to top the pole between the pumps is gone, but the old lights that once illuminated the front of the station are still in place.  Except for a 1961 addition to the rear of the property, the station’s form is virtually unchanged from the way it looked when Allen Threatt built it.