On The Sly

Found this thread while searching for press releases for my book that just came out. Do you have a picture of 'ol Leo Nash'? An interesting collection of pictures of people with my name is in the works on the door in my studio. ~Leo

(Foxy's note: I don't have such a picture, but let's see if any reader can help.)

Billy, on 3rd thought that wasn't Stan, it was Harry Oliver who almost got clobbered on his front porch by that flying tire/wheel. And thanks Old Timer for clarifying that Tommy's Dad owned Beauvais Shell. As for old Leo Nash, he owned the majority of the land from the mill north to Scomotion Creek Bridge. And when old Leo passed away, they dressed him in his best suit and sat him in the parlor while they held an old Irish wake for 3 days. Toast after toast was made - ahh, we knew ye well Leo. He had an 1898 Oldmobile in his garage next to my parents house - I wonder what ever happened to it. It looked more like a surrey than an automobile - it didn't have a steering wheel, it had a control stick like an aircraft. Years after Leo, Tom turned that garage into a guys party parlor w/a woodstove and pews for comfort. I'm not saying where the wine came from but the local priests may have noticed the alter wine sure went fast.

The Shell station on the corner of Oak and Broad was owned by Mike and Tom Beauvais' father I think. Sunoco station on Sailley and Margaret was owned by Johnny Donah and Garfeild Barratte and you could get gas for about 5 gals. for a dollar. Leo Nash had a gas station about 200 yards south on Margaret Street. Grant Frederick had a little (6 or 7 units) trailer park next to his station. For (miss d) - The only station I remember at the intersection of Broad and Brinkerhoff was owned by Buck and Isabelle DuFore. Across Broad was Welches little store. There could have been gas pumps there at one time but I can't recall any in the 40's. Buck and Isabelle built a new home on the eastern end of West Court Street.

Dont forget the CARWASH on Margaret St

I can remember, as a very young child (around 4 or 5), going to Provost’s Station at the corner of Montcalm Ave. and Cornelia Street. My dad was gassing-up his 1972 Ford F-150, a truck he had purchased shortly after getting his job with the fire department. I was bouncing around the cab of the truck because we didn’t have child seats or use seatbelts back them. My dad had left the truck running and in the course of my bouncing I managed to hit the shifter on the column and put the truck into gear causing it to lurch into one of the gas pumps. It snapped the drivers-side door nearly off and destroyed the pump, strewing glass and pump parts across the lot. Even back then there were emergency shut off valves, but gas still managed to pool around the ground. Fortunately, my dad hadn’t lit up one of his cigarettes or we all would have been goners! Not a time goes by when I drive by that gas station and I don’t remember that moment, or at least hearing the stories about it.

(Foxy's note: Great story, Kern. Hope all is well!)

Foxy,
On the corner of Cornelia and Margaret Sts. in the 70's was Cal's Mobile. I remember because it was where I was getting my gas during the gas crisis and you had to buy on the even or odd day by your licence plate number.

Foxy,

I goofed!! That was route 9 that ran behind my duplex on Base. I was a pilot not a navigator!

Paul

Foxy,

There was a gas station right behind our duplex on Base on route 3. We lived on Nevada Oval West (864, I think) and I remember picking a five dollar bill off the fence that someone had lost during a windy Spring day. I know it was Spring because I was hiding Easter eggs for my baby sister to find. I also remember Beauvais gas station across from old PHS (Was that Tom Beauvais Uncle's station or older brother's?). I graduated with Tom in '63.
Just think how much gas that five dollars would buy back then!

Paul

Woody, my LeMans was blood red and she was hot (least I thought so and that's all that counted). She had a 326 V-8 engine on a medium frame & while no where near as fast as Alan Ubl's Nova SS, she could step out quickly. Which brought me back to that Arco station often for regular @ 35 cents/gal. Billy, thanks for reminding me of Oliver's Mobil - makes me think of a story. One Sunday around 1960 Stan Oliver was sitting on his front porch reading the newspaper - corner of Oak @ Riley. The newspaper is up in front of Stan's face when he hears a terrific crash boom, so he pulls down the paper & a tire/wheel is flying right @ his face. He dives for the deck and the tire/wheel crash right though the exterior wall into the house. Some fool pulled a rolling stop thru the stop sign on Riley into Oak heading towards Lynde just as a car is flying down Oak and they met with a report that was heard from 10 blocks away. He was saved by the grace of God that day. I ran down the block & got there about 1st and he recounted the story to me - he was shaking so bad he couldn't stand up.

My dad ran two stations on Rte 3 in the 50's and 60's. He rented his first Mobil station from a Mr. Grant Fredericks. It was located next door to what is now Nelson' s Flower shop. It was where the Honda dealership was (I hear it is soon to be a Japanese steakhouse). Then he got his own Mobil station where Lum's is now located. At that time, there was an IGA (right next door to his station), a used car lot and a trailer park across the road from him. Mr. Ernie Peryea had a home near the used car dealer which they picked up and moved to LaBarre Street when they put in the Northway. I remember him as a kid because he used to give us quarters (which back then was alot of money!!) So when you look at Lum's the next time you drive by, think of "Sparky's Friendly Service".

(Foxy's note: Great to hear from a Johnson Avenue girl. Sparky and his wife Mary and Grandma and the girls are an important part of my childhood memories. Thanks for the info, Sue!)

I bet y'all can help me out with this - I don't remember if Donald Savage had a gas station near Buck DeFore's gas station or was it the same station? Don was Buck's brother-in-law, and I don't know if Don worked for Buck or if they each had a place or if the same location had belonged to one or the other of them at different times. It's one of those pieces of family history that got lost as the older generation passed on. Don's mother & Buck's mother-in-law, Margaret Savage-Ariel (41 Draper Ave.) was my great-aunt.
Thanks for any info you can give me!

North side of Elizabeth St and South Catherine was Pelkey's and I think it was a Texaco Station...

(Foxy's note: Great to hear from my old baseball card buddy, Bob Gertsch.)

Foxy, you're correct. It was Roland and Lee's and I fondly remember Lee Parrotte! Hope his son is as successful as his dad. Thanks for shaking the memory banks!

Tyndall's Gulf was the location across from Bobby's Lounge on S. Catherine Street. There was also a gas station on the corner of Elizabeth St and S. Catherine Street but I dont recall who owned it.

and wasn't the Asadourian Law Office a gas station back in the day?

The station on the north side of Broad at North Catherine was run by a great guy with balding head and remnants of red hair. He had a little guy with a limp working for him who pumped the gas. Can't remember either of their names but I worked there for a short time (one of my first jobs) and was under his watchful eye as a "mechanic trainee". Needless to say, my fondness of beers after work and a short temper led to my early demise as a mechanic!
One station I remember fondly was the Hudson Oil on the NW corner of Broad and Oak. (I think it's a convenience store now?) Anyway, Dave Raymond was the manager, Stan Scroggins and I pumped gas there at around 24 cents a gallon. Hudson Oil itself was owned by a woman named Mary Hudson and we were in competiton with her brother's company, Highway Oil which had a station down on Bridge Street, almost across from the old Filion's Bar. (ah sweet memories!) One of our jobs was to drive by Highway Oil everyday to check out the price posted for gas. We'd then go back to our station and price ours anywhere from a half cent to a full cent lower than Highway's price. (Probably one of the first "gas wars" in Plattsburgh, and this was between brother and sister!!)
Miney, where in hell did you come up with the name "Red Hot" for your car? At least my '62 Mercury Meteor was named after a girl, "Maggie May"!

(Foxy's note: Woody, the first place you mention might be Roland & Lee's -- operated by Lee Parrotte, a great guy. His son now has a repair shop there, but the gas pumps are long gone.)

There were three gas stations down by Georgia Pacific in the day. At the intersection of Sailly Ave and Cumberland Ave was Oliver's Mobil, in the intersection of Sailly Ave and Margaret St. was Barrett's Sunoco and at the corner of Boynton Ave and Margaret St. was Dick's Shell.

What could I possibly have to say about a gas station you ask - well, there was a Sunoco station where Perkins/Comfort Inn now sits. That is where my high-school boyfriend worked and I had the "pleasure" of sitting around the gas station keeping him company on my weekend treks from Malone. The things we girls do for our guys! My favorite gas station though was Tyndall's - Leroy was always friendly and was happy to pump $2 worth for me to get me through the week! Today I am thankful for Dubrey's - again, friendly service and they'll pump the gas for me - it just costs a little more than $2 for the week!

Foxy,
Do you remember what was across the street on South Catherine, kiddy corner from the old gas station at the corner of South Catherine, North Catherine, Broad Street intersection? The old Creamy Bee! South Catherine is my old stompin' ground and we used to go there and to the Altamont (now Bazanno's Pizza) all the time. Craig, I truly believe the old Chevron station looks much better as Under One Roof Video. What an awesome store that is! Not that I'm predjudice toward it or anything like that. No, not me. Thanks for mentioning it in Foxy's blog :-)

(Foxy's note: Great to hear from Rebecca, a local author and the owner of Under One Roof Video!)

Those 2 gas stations @ the corner of N&S Catherine & Broad St - the 1 on the north side of Broad was an Arco in the early 70's and I remember filling my 1st car (a '65 Pontiac LeMans named 'Red Hot') for 35 cents a gallon. The 1 on the south side of Broad was an Atlantic station way back. I guess the Atlantic in Atlantic/Richfield (Arco) crossed the street @ some point. Remember Bird Berdan the Atlantic weatherman? Atlantic keeps your car on the go go go, keep on the go with Atlantic. Sumbler Oil Co. on the Lake Shore Rd south was a Richfield dealer - they had both a gas station there and a fleet of heating fuel delivery trucks.

My fondest memory of a Plattsburgh gas station was Cliff Coryer's Esso station - corner of Margaret @ Robinson Terrace. Cliff was a kid's best friend and always patched every kid's flat tire whether they had the quarter he charged or not. What a nice man & nice family too. Cliff had one of those old red Coke dispensers - you dropped in your dime, opened the window/door and pulled a cold one out - those old timey 8 oz. glass bottles. Yeah, I remember when the Beauvais' owned the Shell station across from PHS/Stafford Middle school. They lived a block down Oak from me & had a huge husky named Chinook. He was pure white & the biggest husky I've ever seen - he was a dogsled lead dog in the winters. Gosh, I miss the 50's. What a blessing we had growing up in that time in our great little city of Plattsburgh.

Foxy,
A few more off the top of my head.The current Wendy's was Petco. The current Under One Roof on Margaret St was a Chevron. At Cumberland Head Corners where Empire Mobile Homes is was a Texaco. The used car lot near the railroad tracks on Boynton next to Kinneys was an Amoco.

Craig Mathews

We may never cover all the gas stations that dotted Plattsburg (no h then) in the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's. Buck Defore's at the intersection of Brinkerhoff and Broad when there was an intersection. Bill Ryan's Shell, Fredericks Mobil, Williamson's Esso all on upper Corneila. John Quinn's Sunoco on Margaret where the glass place is now. Punki's was once a Tydol Station. At the intersection of Broad and Rugar was Garrands Esso. Racettes and then Crowleys owned the Shell station on the corner of Miller and Cornelia. Many of the others have already been mentioned. There were sometime three stations on a corner. Gowetts Gulf was in the location where the Goose holds fort now. Most of the stations also did mechanical work, pumped your gas, checked your oil and tires, and washed your windshields. Good to be back and will try to catch up on all the winter blogs.

(Foxy's note: GREAT to hear from the Old Timer. I've been a little worried ... but glad to see that all is well. You picked a good one for your return to the band of Blogoteers.)

Interesting topic, some of the others that I still recall are Tyndall's Gulf which was renovated into a restaurant across from Bobby's Lounge on S Catherine. The building that is now part of Durochers on the corner of S. Peru and Elizabeth was a gas station before it became Ryan's Liquor Store. There was another one at the corner of S Catherine and S Peru that became a pet shop amongst many other things (now a car wash). On US avenue there was a Texaco station in the now yellow building next door to Plattsburgh Spring. Gil Cashman bought it and converted it into a sub shop aptly named "The Station"

I'll bet there are many more we havent even begun to mention.

yes..steltzers was a sunoco...on down the street on south catherine was tyndalls..can't remember the brand he sold.. but i think garrands was a arco station in the early 70's...he also had a very small used car lot ...

Foxy; I think the corner of cornelia st & Miller was Racettes Gas Station. The other one corner of Corneilia st & Montcalm was Provost Gas Station. Smoke all over State of Florida with brush fires! Georgia & Florida! Need Rain! Lenny

Foxy: I'll be the first kid on the block to jump on this one. The gas station on the corner of Cornelia St. and Montcalm Ave. was Provost's Esso station. I ran into Gary Provost at the Montcalmers reunion at Merons this past summer. FF