Gasoline Alley

With the flourishing of the automobile industry in Missoula, a number of auto-related businesses cropped up on West Main Street’s 200 and 300 blocks in the 1920s. Once the site of Missoula’s livery stables, the stretch became known as “Gasoline Alley,” housing buildings like the Studebaker Automobile and Zip Auto Service buildings and a shop at 233 West Main, now Reynolds Radiator. Many of the 1920s- and 1930s-era buildings in Gasoline Alley display the art deco and art moderne themes of stepped forms, rich colors, and bold shapes.

Zip Auto, at 251 West Main, was designed by H. E. Kirkemo and built in 1937. After assisting in the design and construction of Missoula’s Wilma Theatre, Kirkemo had gone on to become Missoula’s most prolific architect. In his forty plus years as an architect, Kirkemo designed a host of buildings, including the University of Montana Forestry Building, the Humble Apartments, Marcus Daly Hospital, Missoula Textiles, and Zip Auto. Zip Auto exemplifies the art moderne style with stucco on concrete block, stylized typography and geometric detailing. It is still in operation.

The Studebaker Building at 216 West Main, a 1921 brick building fitted with an art deco, cloud-shaped parapet, sold and repaired Missoula police force’s fleet of Studebakers during the 1940s and 1950s. The building was restored in the 1990s and now houses professional offices and local shops.