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Home My WebLink About620 W Main St 2020 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD For the Montana National Register of Historic Places Program and State Antiquities Database Montana State Historic Preservation Office Montana Historical Society PO Box 201202, 1410 8th Ave Helena, MT 59620-1202 Property Address: 620 W MAIN ST Historic Address (if applicable): City/Town: BOZEMAN Site Number: 079 (An historic district number may also apply.) County: GALLATIN Historic Name: O’Neil’s Service Station (1947-1954), Pete’s Husky Service (1956-1978) Original Owner(s): Robert L. Embry and Ben Jordan Current Ownership Private Public Current Property Name: N/A Owner(s): Gasoline Alley LLC Owner Address: 314 Capistrano Ave, Pismo Beach, CA 93449 Phone: Legal Location PM: Montana Township: 02S Range: 05E SW¼ SE ¼ NE ¼ of Section: 12 Lot(s): Lot 16 - 18, & W20' LOT 15 Block(s): E Addition: Story Add (STO) Year of Addition: 1872 USGS Quad Name: Bozeman Year: 1987 Historic Use: Commercial Service Station Current Use: Vacant Construction Date: 1942 Estimated Actual Original Location Moved Date Moved: UTM Reference www.nris.mt.gov NAD 27 or NAD 83 (preferred) Zone: 12 Easting: 496425.7 Northing: 5058385.2 National Register of Historic Places NRHP Listing Date: Historic District: NRHP Eligible: Yes No *Property does not meet the City of Bozeman’s definition of an eligible property (see below). Date of this document: 5/12/2020 Form Prepared by: E. Sakariassen, S. Wells, Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc. with C. Alegria and C. Hendry, Extreme History Project Address: Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Bozeman, MT Daytime Phone: 406-219-3535 MT SHPO USE ONLY Eligible for NRHP: □ yes □ no Criteria: □ A □ B □ C □ D Date: Evaluator: Comments: Site would not contribute to a potential historic district. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 2 Architectural Description Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Architectural Style: Other (specify) If Other, specify: No style Property Type: Commerce Specific Property Type: Commercial garage/services station Architect: Unknown Architectural Firm/City/State: Unknown Builder/Contractor: Unknown Company/City/State: Unknown Source of Information: N/A This site consists of two historic architectural features: a 2-story concrete service station and its associated canopied pump station. The property was formerly the Safelite Auto Glass business but currently stands vacant. The building has an L-shaped footprint, with a concrete foundation. The exterior walls are painted concrete block and the roof is flat with a gabled parapet. The primary façade faces north onto W Main St. The north façade can be divided into three bays. The east two bays are vehicle bays, with overhead garage doors. The eastern bay’s door is a tall, wood-paneled sectional door with 24 square lites. The other garage bay has a more modern vinyl roller door with six oval lites. The west bay of the façade contains the retail shop entry, with a standard glass door accessed by a concrete stoop. To the east of the customer entrance is a pair of fixed reflective-glass windows and to the west is a single window, identical in style. Across the top of the north façade is a simple decorative metal cornice that angles down from the east and west ends of the building to create an elongated diamond shape beneath the gabled parapet. Within this diamond-shaped space is a rectangular sign that has been painted over, but the words “Safelite Auto Glass” are barely legible beneath the thin coat of black. The west elevation contains a large tinted-glass fixed window at the north end. The south end consists of a recessed wing, with a steel standard door at-grade, near center. To the north and south of this secondary entrance are square openings. The opening to the north has been in-filled with plywood. The opening to the south is a glass-block window. Another glass-block window is located around the corner, on the west end of the south elevation. The south elevation of this wing also contains a vinyl roller garage door. The south elevation of the main portion of the building, further west, contains three shoulder-height window openings, one of which has been filled in with concrete block. Above these, in the upper story, are two large window openings, covered over. The east elevation abuts the property line and is obscured by mature deciduous trees and a tall wood fence. It is not visible from the public ROW. Immediately north of the building is a second feature. The feature is a canopied gas pump. The pumps are no longer extant, but the oval-shaped concrete slap is still present. The metal-framed canopy is also still present, supported at the east and west ends by two concrete posts. The site is in fair condition. The entire lot is paved around the building and has rear access to an east-west-trending alley. To the south, across the alley, is a concrete block garage. It looks as though it may have been associated w this property historically, though it is not included on the same city parcel and is currently used by the occupants of the house to the south. The building has experienced alterations, including the replacement of doors and windows and the augmentation of window openings. The building is currently vacant. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 3 History of Property Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 HISTORY OF PROPERTY This site was originally the location of the O’Neil’s Service Station, opened in 1947. It is located on Lots 16 and 18, and the west 20 feet of Lot 15 of Block E, within Story’s Addition—an area that was primarily residential early on. In 1927, while most of the lots southwest of 7th Avenue and West Main Street were dedicated to single-family dwellings and a few side-by-sides, the lots along the south side of West Main Street west of 7th Avenue remained undeveloped with few exceptions (Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1927). By 1943, several family-run commercial enterprises had been constructed along this section of West Main Street, including a restaurant at 712 West Main Street and a creamery on the adjacent lot of 708 West Main Street. The extant service station at 620 West Main Street replaced an earlier gas station that had been on the site in the mid-1930s. As noted in Bozeman Historic Resource Survey: 2008 Revised Edition, construction of a gas station at this site reflected that, the increase in automobile travel generated new businesses that catered to the rising number of car owners and tourists. Gas stations multiplied from twenty-one in 1950 to twenty-nine in 1961 and to forty by 1970. While these facilities concentrated on East and West Main near the downtown center for many years, they began to move outward with the 1950s. In 1956, they stretched east to the United Gaseteria at 1205 East Main and west to the Carter Servicenter at 720 West Main (Renewable Technologies, Inc, 2008: 42). However, a gas station called the Independent Gas Station at 620 West Main Street, owned by Lee R. Embry and Ben Jordan, appears to have preceded the above referenced 1943 Carter Servicenter, located just a block west of 620 West Main Street, by at least eight years. The Independent Gas Station was listed in Bozeman’s 1935-1936 Polk Directory. The small building footprint depicted on the 1943 Sanborn map correlates to the historic photograph in the Gallatin History Museum (#90.1760, P1196N at GHM). The building in the image is a modest one-story gable-fronted frame building with wood clapboarding and double-hung windows. It is overpowered by multiple signs advertising the (Power) gasoline and motor oils sold there. The concrete block building currently on site replaced this earlier building between 1947 and 1949. This L-shaped building is substantially larger than the Independent Gas Station was, yet the line of business remained consistent. The change in business name to O’Neil’s Service is reflected in the 1947 Polk Directory and most likely coincident with construction of the concrete block building currently on site. The directory identifies the operators as Don J. O’Neil and Clark W. Hutchison, as wholesale and retail providers of Husky products and fuel oils (R.L. Polk & Company, 1947 - 1954). Donald J. O’Neil had lived in Bozeman since at least 1940, when he was a driver for the BonTon Bakery (R.L. Polk & Company, 1940). He and his wife May lived at 110-112 East Story, adjacent to his work partner Clark W. Hutchison and his wife Grace (R.L. Polk & Company, 1947 - 1956). His partner Clark had been born in Stockton, Missouri in 1882, yet had moved to Anaconda before his 1916 marriage (Ancestry.com, 2017). He lived in Butte through the 1920s and early 1940s (1920 and 1930 Census; R.L. Polk & Company, Butte). He moved to Helena a few years before his death on July 18, 1964; his obituary listed him as a “retired Bozeman service station manager” (Independent-Record, 22 July 1964). Ben Jordan retained ownership of the property throughout this time, finally selling it to the Husky Oil Company on June 16, 1967. Husky Refining Company had been founded in Cody, Wyoming in 1938, and is now an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta with “…operations in Western and Atlantic Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region” (HuskyEnergy website). From 1956 through 1978, the business was known as Pete’s Husky Service, as managed by Leavitt Eugene (“Pete”) Lewis Jr. (R.L. Polk & Company, 1950 - 1978; Findagrave.com, 1991). Leavitt Lewis Jr. had been born in Provo, Utah on June 7, 1918; he was living in Bozeman by 1940 (Ancestry.com, 2012; Ancestry.com, 2014; R.L. Polk & Company, 1940), with his parents Eugene and Elva Lewis and their seven other children, and working as a janitor at the BonTon Bakery (R.L. Polk & Company, 1940). Leavitt’s brother Leland, who had been born in Bozeman on March 25, 1938, worked as an attendant at Pete’s Husky Service (R.L. Polk & Company, 1959; Ancestry.com, 2017). Leavitt died on July 9, 1991 and was buried in Sunset Hills Cemetery in Bozeman, MT (Ancestry.com, 2014). For 1979 only it was known as Gensemer’s Husky Service (see also 720 West Main’s Gensemer’s 8th & Main Carter Station), after which it was known as Bob’s Husky Service (1980-1983). In January 1983 Husky Oil Company sold the property to Hertzog Realty, who leased the property to Brian’s Auto Repair (1984-1985), then Seventh & Main Auto Repair (1986-1993) – which were paired with an automobile glass specialist (R.L. Polk & Company, 1979 - 1993). The automobile glass specialty became the business’ prime focus from 1998 through at least 2012, the tenure of Safelite Auto Glass. The building was vacated between 2012 and 2020; Safelite Auto Glass is now located at 200 South 23rd Street, within Bozeman’s University Square Shopping Center (R.L. Polk & Company, 1994 – 2012; Safelite website). Gasoline Alley, LLC of Pismo Beach, California purchased the property on May 8, 2017 and is the current owner as of February 2020. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 4 History of Property Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 Table 1. Chain of Title, 620 West Main Street, Bozeman, Montana. Grantor Grantee Date of Instrument Type of Instrument Property Description/Comments Reference USA William H. Tracy 15 June 1872 Patent S ½ of NE ¼ section 12, T2S R5E D: I/56 William H. and Sarah J. Tracy Nelson Story 18 November 1871 Deed Same D: H/402 Nelson and Ellen Story Elias Story 04 November 1874 Deed Lots 13 – 32 in Block E, and all of blocks B, C, D, F, G, H, Story’s Addition D: I/538 Elias Story Ellen Story 14 November 1874 Deed Same D: I/542 Ellen and Nelson Story Elias Story Jr. 29 July 1889 Deed Same (2/3s interest) D: 17/122 Elias Story Jr. Nelson Story 01 August 1889 Deed Same (2/3s interest) D: 17/125 Nelson and Ellen Story Rose Story Hogan 04 October 1902 Warranty Deed Lots 13 – 32, Block E, Story’s Addition D: 29/237 Rose Story and Garrett L. Hogan Bartholomew Cronin 12 February 1906 Warranty Deed Same D: 35/419 Bartholomew and Mary B. Cronin Ellen Story 11 February 1907 Warranty Deed Same D: 38/44 On September 4, 1909, Ellen and Nelson Story sold the S 8’ of their lots to the City of Bozeman for the purpose of opening a public alley through Blocks E, F, and part of Block G in Story’s Addition (D: 42/23). Nelson and Ellen Story The Kenyon-Noble Lumber Company 18 May 1910 Warranty Deed Same D: 41/278 Rose Story Hogan The Kenyon-Noble Lumber Company 05 April 1912 Quit Claim Deed Lots 13 – 21, 24 – 32, Bock E, Story’s Addition D: 21/636 The Kenyon- Noble Lumber Company Lee Embry and Ben Jordan (dba Embry & Jordan) 09 November 1939 Warranty Deed W 20’ Lot 15, all of Lots 16 – 18, Block E, Story’s Addition D: 83/237 Lee Embry and Ben Jordan (dba Embry & Jordan) and Bertha N. Embry and Verda G. Jordan Bess K. Adams 30 December 1940 Warranty Deed Same (deed made to clear the record title) D: 84/466 Bess K. Adams Robert L. Embry and Ben Jordan 30 December 1940 Warranty Deed Same D: 84/467 Robert L. and Bertha M. Embry and Ben and Verda G. Jordan Jeannette H. Cain 23 June 1964 Quit Claim Deed Same D: 146/4 Jeannette H. Cain Ben and Verda Jordan 23 June 1964 Quit Claim Deed Same D: 146/6 Ben and Oleta Jordan Husky Oil Company 16 June 1967 Quit Claim Deed Same D: 154/282 Husky Oil Company Hertzog Realty Investments, Inc. 10 January 1983 Warranty Deed Same D: Film 74/1134 Hertzog Realty Investments, Inc. Gasoline Alley, LLC 08 May 2017 Warranty Deed Same D: #2579247 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 5 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 INFORMATION SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Ancestry.com 2002 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Year: 1930; Census Place: Butte, Silver Bow, Montana; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0043; FHL microfilm: 2340997. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Provo, Utah. Electronic document, https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=6224&h=106429381&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=6061, accessed June 20, 2020. 2010 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Year: 1920; Census Place: Butte Ward 2B, Silver Bow, Montana; Roll: T625_976; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 204. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Provo, Utah. Electronic document, https://search.ancestry.com/cgi- bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=6061&h=45827506&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=WOG24&_phstart=successSource, accessed June 20, 2020. 2012 U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Provo, Utah. Electronic document, https://search.ancestry.com/cgi- bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60525&h=4614715&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=WOG29&_phstart=successSource, accessed June 20, 2020. 2014 U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Provo, Utah. Electronic document, https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=3693&h=36598407&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=60901, accessed June 20, 2020. 2017 Montana, Marriage Records, 1855-2014 [database on-line]. Montana State Historical Society; Helena, Montana; Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Lehi, Utah. Electronic document, https://search.ancestry.com/cgi- bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61578&h=449707&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=WOG32&_phstart=successSource, accessed June 20, 2020. 2017 Montana, Birth Records, 1897-1955 [database on-line]. Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services; Helena, Montana; Montana, Birth Records, 1919-1986. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Lehi, Utah. Electronic document, https://search.ancestry.com/cgi- bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61591&h=487419&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=WOG36&_phstart=successSource, accessed June 20, 2020. Find A Grave 1991 Leavitt E. “Pete” Lewis (1918 – 1991). Electronic document, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51339492/leavitt-e-lewis, accessed June 20, 2020. Husky Energy.com https://huskyenergy.com/about/history.asp, accessed June 20, 2020. The Independent-Record [Helena, Montana] 1964 “Hutchison Funeral Service is Held,” 22 July: page 3. Helena, Montana. Renewable Technologies, Inc., Bozeman Historic Resource Survey: 2008 Revised Edition, February 2008. R.L. Polk & Company 1926-1945 Polk’s Butte, Montana Directory. R.L Polk & Co., Chicago. 1927-2012. Polk’s Bozeman, Montana Directory. R.L. Polk & Co., Chicago. https://www.safelite.com/stores/bozeman Sanborn Map Company 1889-1943 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana (Jan. 1889, July 1890, Nov. 1891, Jan. 1904, Sep. 1912, Sep. 1927, Sep. 1943). Sanborn Map Company, [New York, New York]. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 6 Statement of Significance Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NRHP Listing Date: NRHP Eligibility: Yes No Individually Contributing to Historic District Noncontributing to Historic District NRHP Criteria: A B C D Area of Significance: Period of Significance: STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE This site was originally the location of the O’Neil’s Service Station, opened in 1947. As noted in Bozeman Historic Resource Survey: 2008 Revised Edition, construction of a gas station at this site was part of a trend in development in the early-to-late 20th Century, when the number of gas stations along Main Street increased exponentially from 1950 to 1970. The site remains in fair condition, but does not retain sufficient integrity to convey its historic associations with this period of development, which also coincides with the Nationalization Phase of Bozeman’s development, which saw the rise of new streamlined styles, new construction, and infill (RTI 2008). Alterations to the building’s fenestration and exterior cladding, and the loss of associated features has compromised integrity of materials, design, workmanship, feeling, and association. Sec. 38.700 of the Bozeman Municipal Code defines an eligible property as one that meets the criteria for inclusion in the NRHP of State Register either 1) individually or 2) as a contributing building to an existing or potential historic district. This site has been evaluated against the NRHP Criteria and has been determined to lack individual significance under Criteria A, B, C, and D. It no longer retains sufficient integrity to convey historic associations. Metcalf recommends the site not eligible/non-contributing. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 7 Integrity Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 INTEGRITY (location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, association) The building has experienced alterations, including the replacement of doors and windows and the augmentation of window openings. The building is currently vacant. The associated gas pumps have been removed. These changes have had affect on integrity of materials, design, workmanship, feeling, and association. The site no longer conveys historic character. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 8 Photographs Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 Feature # 1 Facing: SE Description: Property 079. Oblique view. (Image #03-0080, 10/20/2019. EAS) Feature # 1 Facing: NE Description: Property 079. Oblique view. (Image #03-0077, 10/20/2019. EAS) MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 9 Photographs Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 Feature # 1 Facing: SW Description: Property 079. Oblique view of east elevation. (Image #03-0082, 10/20/2019. EAS) Feature # 1 Facing: SW Description: Property 079. Oblique view. (Image #03-0081, 10/20/2019. EAS) MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 10 Site Map Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 11 Topographic Map Property Name: O’Neil’s Service Station/Pete’s Husky Service Site Number: 079