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National
Trust for Historic Preservation's
“This Place Matters”
2009 |
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When
San
Antonio
native Mark Louis Rybczyk included a forlorn little building in his excellent
San
Antonio Uncovered,
we doubt if he knew what he was starting. After reading about the building, we
interviewed Mr. Rybczyk who graciously allowed us to use his
text.
On our next visit to San
Antonio
we looked the building up (Address: 1091 S. Laredo) and found it hiding in plain
sight beneath a gargantuan billboard.
After publishing photos
of the place
we received several requests for directions from photographers and even an inquiry
from the U. S. Department of the Interior.
Early
(1:10 a.m.) on November 3rd, 2009, San
Antonio native Sarah
Reveley wrote to inform us that the station was a finalist in the National
Trust for Historic Preservation’s “This Place Matters” contest. A second email
arrived shortly thereafter informing us that the station had won.
The cracked
and fissured utilitarian building
was up against some stiff competition. Other entries included an intersection
in Birmingham made famous in music (Tuxedo Junction), a hiking path in Hawaii,
an Alaskan monument, a cemetery in Georgia and eight other places that mattered
to someone.
When the dust settled, the station
had secured 26% of the vote, edging out the Georgia Cemetery and a 1939 Coast
Guard boathouse in Door County, Wisconsin.
(Second and Third Place, respectively.) |
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Our
thanks to Mr. Rybczyk for writing about the building, Sarah
Reveley for notifying us of its winning and (San
Antonio native) Terry
Jeanson who photographed the building specifically for this update.
If any residents love their town more than the people of San
Antonio love their town, we’re unaware.
-
Editor, November 4, 2009
See
The
Last Humble Station by Mark Louis Rybczyk |
Humble
Gas Station Related Stories:Texas
Sketchbook by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales" Column)
Humble, a
Texas oil company created in 1911 which in the 1970s became Exxon... published
thousands of copies of the “Texas Sketchbook” and distributed them for free to
anyone who wanted one, including school kids...
Brown's
Humble Station, San Antonio Texas, 1938
Vintage photos courtesy Mel
Brown |
| Vintage
photos courtesy Mel Brown |
35
Years of Humble Service by
Mel Brown
At age five, I went to live with my grandparents in San Antonio.
My grandfather, C. K. Brown was nearing the end of a 35 year long career with
The Humble Oil & Refining Co. as a truck driver and was then marking time daily
by running errands for the regional depot. For most of the previous three decades
he had delivered Humble petroleum products throughout South Texas and all over
San Antonio first by mule team, below, then motor transport. But for that first
year before entering grade school, I became his pint sized partner running around
S A with him to the various Humble stations in a '49 Chevy pickup truck.... more
- Mel Brown | |
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