Fifty years ago as I recall it, the major oil companies were taking hits for the garish appearance of their stations, especially for those built in settled neighborhoods or historic districts. Shell Oil must have been sensitive to the criticism, because in the mid-sixties it began to hire local architects to design custom outlets that might blend-in. One of those worthy attempts was at 1069 Woodley Road. Sad to say, the station failed within a decade, but the design was acceptable so the structure became Hobby Hut. Then, in the late 1980s it morphed into Richardson’s Rx, as it is today.  Another Shell Oil attempt to ingratiate itself was built on the NE corner of McGehee at Carter Hill (opposite the Green Lantern Bank). That one was more successful as a gasoline station, but just a few years back, still doing good business, it fell to the wrecking ball to accommodate a chain pharmacy that never came. I’m sure there were others. The empty McGehee Road site is a sore on the strip and grieves me every day.

-Charles Humphries