Cloquet, Minnesota: Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station

Almost every gas station in the world has an outside sign advertising its branding, but this station is special. Besides the branding sign, it has a second outdoor sign advertising its architect.

According to Minnesota Public Radio News, the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station in Cloquet, Minn., will soon receive much-needed maintenance. The family that owns the Lloyd Wright-designed service station is restoring and preserving it after about 30 years of neglect.

The R.W. Lindholm Service Station (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) is open and celebrating its 50th anniversary on the corner of Cloquet Ave and Hwy 33, although it has certainly looked better.

Having grown up in Cloquet, I remember riding our bikes past it, and how much nicer it was 30 years ago. The station is in need of a lot of TLC, and hopefully they have cleaned it up a bit for their anniversary celebrations. The station was designed based on Wright's Broadacre City plan, with the station and its observation deck being one of the center points. The garage bays have skylights that were designed to let natural light into the work area. If memory serves me, the gas was supposed to be dispensed by hoses that came down from the canopy, instead of the typical gas dispensers. The place would be better off if it was closed down at a service station and then restored to its original glory and opened as a museum and tourist attraction. The station is worth a look if you are passing through the "City of Wood Industry," or so it used to be called.

Reported in August 2001 as closed, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed service station was very much open in September 2002. We purchased fuel at the station and visited the upper-level observation deck. There's not much to the observation room, nor is there much to observe, but it is still intact. The men's room is adjacent to the observation deck. Our best guess was that someone last took the time to clean the men's room in the late 1960s.

There's nothing about this station that seems patently Frank Lloyd Wright, other than it is so obviously purpose-built. Easily identifiable elements of Wright's Prairie Style are absent. At any rate, the station is open, and if you pull in at the full-service pump, the attendant will come out and fill your car for you. A sort of throwback to the glory days of motoring.

The is the only gas station that was designed by Frank Loyd Wright. It is a Phillips 66 gas station and they leave the observation deck open even if the station is closed. Not much to the observation deck; one trash can and two chairs that overlook the St. Louis river. One sad note -- at one point on your way up from Minneapolis there was a billboard the screamed "The only Gas Station ever designed by Frank Loyd Wright" -- it's gone now!