Dinosaur service station, ~1991.

Dinosaur Gas Station

Spring Hill, Florida

Fossil fuel vehicles have nothing to fear as long as dinosaur-shaped repair facilities survive -- such as this gas station just south of Weeki Wachee, Florida. It's named "Dino" (pronounced DYE-no) and is 110 feet feet long, 30 feet wide, and 47 feet high. It's a stylized Apatosaurus, built by William Wilkis of New Port Richey because he was a dealer for Sinclair Oil Co. -- no strangers to dinosaur branding. Despite its prehistoric look, the gas station opened in 1964, although old photos suggest the cement dino was under construction ten years before that.

On April 6, 1977, Harold Hurst bought the dinosaur. Harold's Auto Center has operated inside it ever since, and is now owned by Harold's wife and son.

In 2020 the gas station was poised to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. Not bad for a concrete dinosaur.

Dinosaur Gas Station

Harold's Auto Center

Address:: 5299 Commercial Way, Spring Hill, FL
Directions:: Harold's Auto Center, Hwy 19. Just south of Weeki Wachee Springs.
RA Rates:: Worth a Detour

Nearby Offbeat Places

Mermaids of Weeki Wachee, Weeki Wachee, FL - 1 mi.

Pepto-Bismol Pink Dinosaur, Spring Hill, FL - 2 mi.

Ice Cream Cone Building, Spring Hill, FL - 5 mi.

In the region:

Monkey Island, Homosassa, FL - 19 mi.

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