Standard Oil Red Crown Castle - Lafayette, Indiana

This former Standard Oil station was built in 1927. It originally had just one service bay. In 1936, a second bay was added. The station closed in 1979. In 1985, the Tippecanoe County Library bought the property with plans to turn it into a parking lot. The library used the station for storage for a while. In 1991, Don Stein, a local business man and car collector bought the station and had it restored.

 

It was supposed to take 18 months and $350,000 to restore the station. However, with the help of local volunteers, it was done in two months and cost less than $60,000. During the restoration, the original roof tiles were found in a warehouse in Ohio and were provided for free. The building housed the Red Crown Mini-Museum featuring Red Crown and Standard Oil gasoline memorabilia as well as antique cars from Stein's collection for many years. In 2018, the building appeared to be vacant.

 

603 South St. Lafayette, Indiana - Tippecanoe County

 

Upper Main Street Historic District - NRHP - 90000814

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