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Cottage Service Station, circa 2025

Carl August Petersen, designer of the Cottage Service Station

Cottage Service Station, circa 1950

A Washington cab company used the side lot for parking.

Rendering of Cottage Service Station

Blount O’Neil built the Cottage Service Station in 1938

Colon W. McLean leased the property to Colonial Oil Company in 1938.

E. Knox Britt built the Cottage Service Station in 1938

F. Ray Moore, Owner from 1978-1982

Pauline Berry leased the property to Colonial Oil Company in 1938

“The Cottage Service Station, located at 2nd and Respess Streets, is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Washington’s downtown Historic District,” said Stephen Farrell, curator of special collections at the Brown Library. “It is almost like it is hiding in plain sight. Everyone knows where it is, as they drive by it every day, and don’t even think about it.”

Farrell’s investigative skills were called into service recently after being approached by the Presbyterian Church, the owners of the building. They asked if he could do a program about the history of the building, as they were in the planning stages of wanting to renovate it so it could be put to use after being vacant for many years. “Once I started digging into things, I began to find that this little gas station had tentacles around town,” said Farrell. “There were various families and church organizations associated with it. The more I dug, the more I realized how interwoven the station was with Washington’s history.”

In 1926, self-trained architect Carl A. Petersen was tasked by the Pure Oil Company to design a service station that was safe, efficient, and one “even the neighbors could love.” With all of those requirements in mind, Petersen developed the Cottage Service Station.  “During the late teens and 20s, motorists had to stop at a blacksmith shop, or an old tin-roofed shack on the side of the road to get oil or gas for their cars,” said Farrell. “Attendants would come out with cans of gas to fill the vehicles up. In some cases, there were even makeshift gas pumps.”

As Farrell explained, Pure Oil was a conglomerate. There were also oil companies that had distributors of oil, who then sold gas and oil products to service stations. Colonial Oil Company of Norfolk, Virginia, oversaw Virginia and eastern North Carolina. In 1938, William A. Parvin Sr. became an agent for Colonial Oil in Washington. That same year, Colon  W. McLean and his wife, Pauline Berry McLean, devout Presbyterians, leased their property at the corner of 2nd and Respess Streets to Colonial Oil for ten years. “This cleared the way for the construction of the Cottage Service Station,” said Farrell. “For that to happen, two homes had to be torn down. The station was built by Edward Knox Britt and Blount Sparrow O’Neil.”

Per Petersen’s original design, the Cottage Service stations could be laid out in different ways, but would always have the friendly, neighborhood curb appeal that was intended. The most common were white painted brick with a blue slate roof. The first attendant at the station was Theodore Respess. “As the story goes, he always carried a rag in his back pocket that he only washed once a week,” said Farrell. “So if you got there by the end of the week, you might have had a few smears on your windshield. It was also said he could “talk your warts away,” as they would disappear in about a week.”

The Cottage Station would change hands several times over the years. Colonial Oil Company of Norfolk, Virginia, sold the property to Pure Oil Company in 1957. F. Ray Moore owned the station from 1978-1982. Billy Parvin Jr, the son of William A. Parvin Sr., owned and operated the station from 1982-2002 and in 2004 donated everything back to the Presbyterian Church. “This tiny little service station touched so many lives in this town,” said Farrell. “From those who either owned or operated it to the citizens who stopped by for a tank of gas or service for their vehicle. There are a lot of children or grandchildren of the previous owners and operators that had no idea their relatives were connected with the Cottage Station in some way.”

Farrell added that there are a lot of structures that are much older in Washington that date back 100 years before the Cottage Station was built. “There are others with more historic significance, but to me, they all have a story,” said Farrell. “Telling the story of this small service station brings it back to the forefront, and brings back the stories of those who are not with us anymore. So many structures from that time are gone, so it is so important to preserve and restore these buildings and their integrity so current and future generations can admire and get a glimpse into our past. This little gas station is a real gem in our historic downtown.”

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