On my road trip last week I had a chance to drive through the same area I saw an abandoned gas station back in November of 2009.
It was beyond ruined now.
The giant roof over the three rusted gas pumps had finally fallen and crushed everything underneath it. Getting closer to the store, I could see the roof apparently came straight down with the support beam pushed out and pointing toward the highway.
I would have thought with the angle the roof and the support beams were leaning on my last visit, the roof would have fallen toward the store or toward the highway. Not straight down like this.
The gas pumps that were once standing had been violently pushed aside…
…and covered with debris from the upper roof collapse.
Around the corner, I could see what was left of the top portion of the roof.
Surprisingly, the roof superstructure seemed mostly intact despite the fall. The criss-cross latticework of rusted metal hadn’t reflected much of the impact at all.
The painted over red Texaco sign was smashed on one side, exposing what once illuminated the logo…
…but the other Texaco signs were completely intact on the other sides of the roof.
The rusted gas pump near the lowest point of the roof’s impact was completely crushed and twisted underneath.
While the gas pump in the center had been torn off its’ base in the impact.
Although the door to the “Uncle Sam’s” store behind the gas pumps was broken on my last visit, I hadn’t bothered to take a look inside. Since I had a little spare time on this trip, I took a moment to get a few photos…
…and saw the interior was completely destroyed. Vandalized would be a better word.
Someone tore apart the inside of this store. The light fixtures were pulled down, the window frames were bent out… pretty much everything that could be broken was broken.
Back behind the beverage doors, some product display notice was inked on the wall around September of 2000. 10 years ago… not really that long for something like this to happen.
I suspect this is one of the “window liberators” the vandals used.
Even the glass on the periphery of the store was smashed and broken.
Glass was crunching in my soles every step of the way back outside, and it took awhile to get every sliver out from where they had dug into my shoes.
I don’t think I will see this gas station again. At this point, this location is a complete loss, and only a complete demolition will make anything appear at this location again.
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