Oliver's
Auburn, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Check out Oliver’s in the little foothill community of Clipper Gap near Auburn. The old gas station appears to have received a fresh coat of paint, but it still looks right at home beside the former Lincoln Highway and U.S. 40.

Oliver’s has served travelers and locals since the 1920s. Long before the gas pumps arrived, the property was home to a gunpowder factory that closed after several explosions. Probably best that today’s customers only need to worry about filling the tank.

UPDATE: Oliver’s remains open as a gas station, convenience store, and local bar and diner. Its classic signs and old foothills atmosphere remain in place. 09-26

Discount Auto (Closed)
Sacramento, CA
Photo courtesy Chris Sampang

The Discount Auto in Sacramento, CA is a remnant of an old Wilshire or Gulf Gas Station. This one is located in Citrus Heights along Auburn Boulevard. Many thanks to Chris Sampang for info. 03-07

Here’s Discount Auto along Auburn Boulevard in Citrus Heights. The building started life as a gas station and still carries the familiar shape of an old Wilshire or Gulf, especially that long canopy reaching out toward the former Highway 40 roadside.

Built in 1965, the station later became Discount Auto and then briefly served as a donation center. Even without the pumps, the old service-station shape remained easy to spot across from Rusch Park.

UPDATE: The building has been vacant and boarded up for about a decade. Plans to convert it into a drive-through restaurant called California Quick Slice were approved in 2018 but never completed. The Discount Auto signs are gone, although the old canopy remains. 09-26

A-1 Auto Repair
Sacramento, CA
Photo courtesy Chris Sampang

This former gas station and now auto shop near the Pancake Circus in the Tower District of Sacramento features the Phillips 66 design. Many thanks to Chris Sampang for info. 03-07

Across from Pancake Circus in Sacramento, check out this former gas station now occupied by A-1 Auto Repair. The sharp overhanging canopy gives away its earlier life as a Phillips 66, even though the pumps and familiar shield signs are long gone.

Built in 1968, the station used one of Phillips 66’s distinctive mid-century designs. The old service bays and canopy turned out to be a good fit for an independent repair shop, so cars still pull in beneath the same roadside roof. 03-07

UPDATE: A-1 Auto Repair remains open at the corner of Broadway and 21st Street. The Phillips 66 signs are gone, but the original station building and angular canopy survive. 09-26

Old Gas Station (Closed)
Sacramento, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Here’s an Old Gas Station somewhere in Sacramento, closed and surrounded by fencing. The pumps were gone and the property looked ready for the bulldozer. Usually, once the fence goes up, it is not a particularly encouraging sign.

This one as a roadside mystery. It may have stood along one of Sacramento’s older commercial corridors. It looks very similar to the TST Gas. 09-08

UPDATE: Without an address or recognizable landmark, the fate of this old station is not known. 09-26

Lion Auto (Gone)
Sacramento, CA
Photo courtesy Mike & Robyn Howard

Check out the cantilevered canopy at Lions Auto Sales along Fulton Avenue in Sacramento. Those big angled beams once held the roof over a set of gas pumps, leaving plenty of open space for cars to pull underneath. Even without the pumps, the old station design was hard to miss.

The property stayed in the automobile business after its gas station days, serving at different times as Great Valley Chrysler-Plymouth and a Honda collision center before becoming a used car lot. At least the cars never had to move very far. 07-11

UPDATE: Lions Auto Sales remains in operation, but the old cantilevered gas station buildings shown here have been demolished and replaced with newer structures. 09-26