Shenandoah Roots

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====== Roy B. Hawkins Sr. at the Standard Oil service station in Winchester, Virginia ======

[{{ :hawkins:standard_oil_station:standard_oil_station.jpg?direct&800 |photo: D.H. Moore collection}}]

This undated photograph shows Roy B. Hawkins Sr. (far right) in front of the Standard Oil service station where he worked in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. The two other men are not identified.

The photo is not a good one and has had a bit of manipulation to bring out some contrast and pretty up the upper left corner where the tree disappeared into an unintelligible blur.

{{ :hawkins:standard_oil_station:filling_station_diagram.png?direct&250|}}The structure in the background almost looks like garage bays, but is actually the lattice-covered galleries of the building next door. The figure at right highlights the actual station structures, which consist of a roofed pump island and an office set at an angle to the island.

===== Dating the Photograph =====

The Hawkins family moved to Winchester when Roy left his job with the Round Hill Orchard Company for opportunities in the oil business. The above photo was taken in this period.

The photo can be dated to 1928 or 1929 from family history. In late 1927, when Roy's daughter Audrey was born, the family lived in Jefferson Co., West Virginia. On 07 April 1930 the Federal Census placed the family in the town of Broadway, Rockingham Co., Virginia.

{{:hawkins:standard_oil_station:esso_sign_detail.png?direct&80  |}}Evidence in the photo confirms this dating. The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey changed its name to Jersey Standard in 1930. In the far right of the photo can be seen part of an Esso advertising banner, detail at left. Esso was introduced as a brand name in 1926. This style of Esso logo appears to have been used between 1926 and 1933, after which the familiar oval logo was introduced. Compare the Esso sign in the detail to the images below. 
| {{:hawkins:standard_oil_station:washington_dc_esso_station.png?direct&300|}} | {{:hawkins:standard_oil_station:esso_map_1929.jpg?direct&300|}} |
The first image, a photo dated pre-1929, is of a filling station in Washington DC.((Photographer unknown. Hedges Middleton Sullivan & Helan Place, [Rhode Island Ave. & 6th, N.W., Washington, D.C.]. Photograph. n.d. From Library of Congress: National Photo Company Collection [between 1918 and 1928]. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/npc2008014043/ (accessed 27 Jan 2015).)) The second image, where the Esso logo appears in the lower right corner, is from the back of a Standard Oil Company map issued in 1929.((Standard Oil Company of Pennsylvania. 1929 'Standard' Road Map of Pennsylvania. Map. n.p.: General Drafting Co., n.d. From Historical Maps of Pennsylvania: 1920's Oil Company Road Maps of Pennsylvania. http://www.mapsofpa.com/roadmaps2.htm (accessed 27 Jan 2015).))

===== Siting the Photograph =====

{{ :hawkins:standard_oil_station:stone_house_detail.png?150|}}
Visible on the right side of the picture of the Standard filling station is an old stone house (see detail at right). Below is another picture of this house. This image, part of an archive of razed buildings kept by Preservation of Historic Winchester (PHW Inc.), is identified as of houses on North Braddock Street that were demolished in 1963. ((Photographer unknown. Houses along N. Braddock Street. Demolished in 1963. Photograph. n.d. From PHW Inc.: Vanished Winchester (photo 77 of 115). https://picasaweb.google.com/102987560620552891770/VanishedWinchester (accessed 17 Jan 2015).)) The photo appears to date from that time. The side of the service station office building is visible on the left of the image, and a swag of triangular pennants, once a common decorative device of filling stations, is hung between the house and the station. The narrowness of the side wall of the service station office suggests that it was a triangular plan building. {{  :hawkins:standard_oil_station:n_braddock_stone_house.png?400|}}

Next to the stone house, on the right side of the 1963 image, is another masonry domestic structure, and just visible on the extreme right is a taller brick building with a partially visible sign reading "Davi" and "Groce".

{{:hawkins:standard_oil_station:19-23_n_braddock.png?300 |}} At left is a photo of that brick building from the 1920s.((Barr, C. Frederick. 19, 21, 23, N. Braddock Cameron St. Photograph. Circa 1925. From Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, Va.: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society Collection. http://handley.pastperfect-online.com/34356cgi/mweb.exe?request=record&id=5F07BFAF-069E-4721-B106-595909246990&type=102 (accessed 19 Jan 2015).)) Both the shop window and the delivery truck parked in front bear the legend "B. F. Davis, Quality Groceries." This building is still standing, largely unchanged from the outside, and occupies addresses 19, 21, and 23 on North Braddock Street. Finding 21 North Braddock Street on Google Maps (see map below) shows that the two lots next to the brick grocery building, once occupied by the stone house and its neighbor, are now municipal parking. The lot adjacent to the old stone house lot is on the corner of North Braddock and West Boscawen Street and is also a parking lot. This narrow lot is the site of the old Standard Oil of New Jersey filling station where Roy worked in 1928-29.

{{ :hawkins:standard_oil_station:winchester_labeled_map.png?600 |}}

{{  :hawkins:standard_oil_station:110_w_boscawen.jpg?300|}}Around the corner, at 110 West Boscawen Street, is the weather boarded old house which, in the 1980s, was pointed out by Pauline (Larrick) Hawkins as the house the family lived in when they were residents of Winchester. This house is across the street from the Rouss Fire Company building, a local landmark. The house, known as the Susan Beemer house, was constructed in the 1820s and is said to have a log core. At right is a picture of the Susan Beemer house as it appeared in 1976.((Photographer unknown. 110 W. Boscawen St., Susan Beemer House. Photograph. n.d. From PHW Inc.: 1976 Architectural Survey (photo 77 of 538). https://picasaweb.google.com/102987560620552891770/1976ArchitecturalSurvey (accessed 19 Jan 2015).))

In 2012 the current owner of the Susan Beemer house applied for a permit to raze it and construct upscale condos on the lot. The request was tabled for further study and the fate of the house in not known to your author. As of July 2014, [[http://goo.gl/maps/uqNLa|Google Street View shows the house]] as standing, though now painted green.