Petrified Wood Gas Station

No, there is no gas here. But back in 1927, E.F. Boydston built it as a gas station. Later, he decided to cover its exterior with chunks of petrified wood, perhaps inspired by a similar gas station in Colorado, or by Petrified Wood Park in South Dakota. Boydston covered the walls of his next-door cafe and tourist cabins as well. (One of the motor court cabins was supposedly rented by Bonnie and Clyde a couple of weeks before they died.)

The cafe closed in 1964 and passed into the hands of Nancy Rosendahl, one of E.F.’s grandchildren. She and her husband Jim spent the next decade restoring the entire complex to its post-WWII glory days, which they said peaked around 1953. The old gas pumps are still out front but the interior has been remodeled as a personal office. There is parking and the place definitely photographs well. It’s interesting and worth a stop to see.