Gas station at Fort and 1st

**mtburb** · August-13-22, 08:54 PM

Right now I'm researching the history of the gas station at Fort and 1st, which has been around since 1910, when it opened as the very first gas station in Michigan.

At first it was Center Oil, which would become Sinclair, and in 1970, it rebranded to Arco, and would keep that brand into the 1980s.

By 1995 it had become BP, and later had stints as Citgo in the 2000s and then Sunoco before adopting the current Mobil brand in 2021.

However, I remember this station being another brand in the late 1980s after Arco had left Michigan but before BP began showing up in the metro area. What the brand was, I cannot remember it, and endless searching yielded nothing, so I'm asking this question: any of you remember the name the gas station at Fort and 1st operated under in the late 1980s-early 1990s timeframe? It's possible it may have been one of the brands it later became after BP, but it's also possible it was an independent.

**MikeM** · August-13-22, 10:05 PM

Was it Amoco, like most BP stations were before the BP takeover?

**mtburb** · August-14-22, 08:26 AM

I don't think it was Amoco at all.

**Meddle** · August-14-22, 04:32 PM

Total was all over the place in the 80s. I can't picture the station you mean, but I remember the one on E Jefferson at 375.

**Honky Tonk** · August-14-22, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

Total was all over the place in the 80s. I can't picture the station you mean, but I remember the one on E Jefferson at 375.

Blue Collar

**mtburb** · August-14-22, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

I can't picture the station you mean...

The station is at the northeast corner of Fort and 1st, address 460 West Fort.

**Honky Tonk** · August-14-22, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by mtburb

The station is at the northeast corner of Fort and 1st, address 460 West Fort.

I know exactly the station you mean, but for the life of me I can't recall what it original station was. Do you recall any colors the sign might have had?

**Sehv313** · August-16-22, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Blue Collar

Now its the infamous Speedway.

Note: That was a strange movie btw

**mtburb** · August-21-22, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by Meddle

Total was all over the place in the 80s. I can't picture the station you mean, but I remember the one on E Jefferson at 375.

I'm beginning to believe it could have been a Total, as BP bought quite a few Totals in the early 1990s.

**Meddle** · August-21-22, 01:58 PM

Funny thing is that I worked just around the corner from '91 to '96 and even after looking at the current street view pics, I don't remember it. Ate lunch at the Money Tree a few times. And I was all over that area through most of the 80s. I probably drove by it a thousand times and maybe walked by it a few times.