Don’t amble to this Illinois Route 66 roadside attraction: Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station in Dwight, Illinois.
Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station (AKA the Ambler-Becker Station, Vernon’s Texaco Station, and Becker’s Marathon Gas Station) was built by Jack Shore in 1933 along historic Route 66 in the Village of Dwight.
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For, appropriately, 66 years it lived on and eventually became the longest operating service station on The Mother Road.
The station was operated by several owners over the years, but none so long as longtime manager Basil “Tubby” Ambler. He operated the fueling station from 1938 to 1966 and is the source of the Route 66 attraction’s famous moniker.
In 1999 the pumps were shut off for the final time and that could have been the end for this classic road trip stop. But, in 2001, Ambler’s was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was then awarded a Cost-Share Grant from the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program in 2002 and, from 2005 to 2007, was restored back to how it looked in the 1940s.
Outside, the building has since been repaired and restored to its original look, with a white awning covering two bright red Texaco gas pumps. To the side, an added vintage-inspired billboard and plywood service station attendant complete the vintage look.
Inside the location now serves as the Dwight Visitor Center. Find tools, equipment, a potbelly stove, an old cash register, old 7-Up and Coke bottles, and more memorabilia from the stop’s heyday.
While you can no longer get gas at Ambler’s, this vintage service station still fuels cars in a more modern way: it is home to an electric vehicle charging station.
Looking for more Illinois Route 66 attractions? Also look for the Soulsby Service Station, Standard Oil Filling Station, and Sprague’s Super Service Station.
Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station
Address: W Waupansie St, Dwight, IL 60420
Hours: Always Visible,
Cost: Free to See
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