Gas Station
A gas station has stood on this site since the opening of the town in 1937. Notice that the rounded glass facade is gone from the original building and that a garage has been added on the right side. Initially, like all the other businesses in Greenbelt, the filling station was run as a cooperative. In 1956 the Co-op gas station moved to a new building on Southway near the intersection at Greenbelt Road, and the building in front of you became independently owned by “Flying A”. In 1967 Mobil took over the station. Much of the original building still exists underneath the contemporary exterior. Walk around the back of the gas station and try to spot the older elements of the building.
Cars were indispensable in this new suburban community. In 1939, when owning a car was still considered a luxury, 65% of Greenbelt households owned an automobile. In 1938 the gas station charged $1.25 for an oil change, and the price for gasoline was 23 cents per gallon (about $2.30 in 1999 dollars). Carpools and a bus that connected with the streetcar line transported Greenbelt residents to jobs in Washington, D.C.
Marker is at the intersection of Crescent Road and Centerway and Gardenway, on the right on Crescent Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
