Home > California > Pasadena > C.F. Forbes Gas Station, 195 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, Los Angeles County, CA
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Item Title
C.F. Forbes Gas Station, 195 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, Los Angeles County, CA
Location195 North Raymond Avenue,
Pasadena, CA
Find maps of Pasadena, CA
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.
Notes
Survey number HABS CA-2616
Building/structure dates:
1929 initial construction
Building/structure dates:
1935 subsequent work
Building/structure dates:
1940 subsequent work
Significance: This building is the only drive-in auto service/gas station property type remaining in the Old Pasadena Historical District. It is an architecturally intact example of a property type associated with historic development responding to emerging auto use in the city. Built during the early years of the automotive era, this single story gas station is Spanish in style. The exterior is plaster and the tile edging along the roof is harmonious with the brick buildings across the street. It is one of the few remaining buildings in the Historic District that exhibits an architecture uniquely characteristic of the 1920's: the building combines the massiveness, load bearing walls, and detailing of the Mediterranean/Spanish Revival style of the nearby Civic Center with the horizontal lines of the emerging "streamline" architectural style, representative of newer and faster forms of transportation. The large horizontal openings and service bays, so uncharacteristic of the Mediterranean style, were a functional response to the program requirements of an automobile service station. By placing of the buildings to the south and east in response to the circulation pattern of automobiles at the intersection, the service station established a siting pattern that was unique from other pre-automobile and many non-automobile buildings, which normally were built as close to the street corner as possible. The openness of the site at the street corner made this service station an identifiable physical landmark and orientation point within the neighborhood, and is perhaps its most significant contribution to the overall fabric of the Old Pasadena Historic District.
Subjects
Automobile Service Stations
Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. OVERALL SITE AERIAL VIEW, FACING SOUTHWEST, BOTH BUILDINGS.
2. OVERALL SITE GROUND VIEW, FACING SOUTHWEST, BOTH BUILDINGS.
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