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The Soulsby Shell Station Story The Soulsby Station Mount Olive, Illinois Since 1926 The advent of a national road system in 1926 ushered in a golden age for small-time entrepreneurs. In Mount Olive, Illinois, it inspired miner Henry Soulsby to put down his pick and shovel and erect a gas station along what would soon become Route 66. His son Russell, 16, and daughters Ola and Velma helped build and operate the new business. It had a red-shingled roof and cream-colored redwood siding. From the beginning until the end—65 years—they sold only Shell gasoline provided by the Fassero Brothers distributing company in nearby Benld. Soulsby Shell is a one-of-a-kind design. At 13x30 feet, it was smaller than the restrooms in most modern stations. There was barely room for a coal stove, a cash register, a roll top desk, a battery charger and a few supplies. The Soulsbys added a 12 x 30 extension to the back of the building in the mid 1930s, but it was still never big enough to accommodate a car. For minor repairs, they had a drive-up ramp outside. For oil changes and grease jobs, they used a portable lubester. And to charge a battery, the Soulsbys would just pass the cables out the window. The canopy, an original fixture, hung almost too low for gravity flow pumps to fit. And although there was a water tap to refresh cars’ radiators, the station never had a sink or a restroom. For those conveniences, the Soulsbys always went to Henry and Ola’s house behind the Station. Perhaps the station’s most striking feature is that it had five doors. The Soulsbys and their customers never had to turn a corner get in or out of the station. They just used the right door. This ease of accessibility made the best use of limited space. It also proved convenient for Russell when he ran a second business out of the north side of the building. Other people think the station’s drive-up ramp is its most striking feature. But that’s more by accident than design. Russell stopped using it about 30 years ago. But when local teens insisted on using it at night to tune up their hotrods, he let a pin oak grow between the ramp’s legs. That oak is now 25 feet tall. It joins with several walnut trees on the lot to produce a nice shade. When Henry retired, Russell and Ola took over the station. Their partnership would endure until the station closed in 1991. Each was as adept as the other at pumping gas, checking the oil, and looking under the chassis to detect and fix problems. At the close of business each day, Ola proved to be a homebody. She would never marry. But Russell had a restless, creative spirit that needed to roam. On evenings and weekends, he played clarinet and saxophone in a dance band, the Melodians. It was at a dance in Litchfield that he met his wife, Elizabeth. Together they had three sons—Don, Ron and Ed. When Interstate 55 replaced Route 66 in Illinois starting in the mid 1970s, it spelled the end for most mom-and-pop gas stations. But Russell and Ola kept pumping what gas they could until 1991. Even after that Russell stayed open to check oil, sell soda pop and talk with the ever-increasing number of Route 66 tourists and documentary makers. Finally, in 1993, he closed for good. In 1997, he sold the station and Ola’s house at auction to a neighbor, Mike Dragovich. The station’s new owner, Mike Dragovich, is a Mount Olive native. His father George was a former mayor of the village. With degrees in aeronautics and electrical engineering, he currently works for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Since buying the station, Mike has used a portion of it as his office. But he has also worked readily with two not-for-profit groups, the Soulsby Station Society and the Route 66 Association of Illinois, to honor the site’s history and its tourism potential. excerpts from Route 66 author and historian, Tom Teague. |
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The rest of the Story |
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| In 2003 the Soulsby Station Society was a gleam in Tom Teague's' eyes. Tom submitted a grant request to the National Park Service in Santa Fe, New Mexico. But before the grant process could be completed, Tom fell ill and passed away at his Springfield home. The grant process was almost complete, but without someone to push the preservation project, it languished for a couple of years. Another Route 66 historian, Ollie Schwallenstecker, along with Mt. Olive native Nelson Grman convinced owner Mike Dragovich to revive the Soulsby Station Society. The grant was revised and resubmitted to the NPS. A continuation of the project was approved in 2007 and the preservation is proceeding. BECOME A SOULSBY STATION VOLUNTEER
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