Higgins, VA: Diggs Filler UP/Tidewater Oil/Esso

(Satellite)

Street View, Aug 2016

There Are Places - the Photography of Michael Wade posted two photos with the comment:

Diggs Filler Up station - formerly Tidewater Oil Company / Esso station. The station was restored by Bobby Diggs and is like an indoor and outdoor museum, and features vintage Esso and Standard Oil gas pumps. It's design is a "house and canopy" architectural style, which was very popular with the early filling stations. Note that - filling station, not gas station. That's because "these early roadside stops literally "filled" multiple fluid reservoirs and containers, rather than just pumping gasoline into a car’s built-in fuel tank."

"Early automobiles were mechanically unreliable and consumed fluids at a high rate. When a driver pulled into a station, the attendant didn't just provide fuel; their primary job was to fill up all the vital liquids required to keep the vehicle running. This included:

Motor Oil: Early engines burned through oil rapidly and needed constant topping off.

Water: Early cooling systems frequently boiled over, requiring attendants to fill the radiator.

Kerosene: Used to fill the vehicle's side lamps and tail lamps before electric lighting became standard."

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Emory Minnick Flickr, cropped
A Blast from the Past!! Restored Standard Oil Filling Station owned by Bobby Diggs. It is truly a museum inside and outside.