A.J. Head Service Station
Garland, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Federal Aid Road Act (1916) and the formation of the Texas Highway Department resulted in the creation of Texas Highway 1, or Bankhead Highway. The Bankhead was America's second east-to-west transcontinental highway, which went through several Texas cities, including Garland. Commercial growth and a boom of businesses along the highway boosted Garland's economy for decades. A.J. Head, the original owner of the A.J. Head/Humble Station, opened a filling station in 1947. It housed many businesses to serve Bankhead Highway drivers, including a tire shop, auto repair shop, bail bond office, welding shop and discount retail store. Head sold the business in 1957, coinciding with the decreased importance of the Bankhead Highway. Still at its original location, the station has received few significant changes over the years. Designed by Robert Otis Lagrone, the two-story brick building was built in the Streamline Moderne style, popular in the 1930s and 1940s. The style emphasized smooth surfaces, horizontal lines, and curved corners. The curved brick wall of the building and the original metal canopy illustrated important characteristics of the style. While the canopy at the front of the building was removed, the steel and horizontal lines emphasized the style's industirual aesthetic. Because of its important place on the Bankhead Highway, the A.J. Head Humble Station shows its important role in Garland's essential economic and industrial growth in the 1940s and 1950s. (2018)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Bankhead Highway—America's second transcontinental east-west route, born of the 1916 Federal Aid Road Act—ran through Garland and fueled a boom of roadside businesses. A.J. Head opened this filling station in 1947, and over the years it housed a tire shop, auto repair, welding, a bail bond office, and a discount store to serve highway travelers. Designed by Robert Otis Lagrone in the Streamline Moderne style, its curved brick wall and metal canopy captured the sleek, horizontal look popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
Why it matters
The station embodies the mid-century automobile age and the highway commerce that drove the growth of towns like Garland before the interstate era.
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Related people
- · A.J. Head
- · Robert Otis Lagrone
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bankhead Highway in Garland
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