Monthly Archives: April 2019

Center Dale Service Station

centerdale

Back in June of 1967, I was working as a photographer for the Kingsport Times-News.  I got dispatched to this service station, then known as Smith Shell, to photograph the aftermath of an accident: a lady driving away from getting gas snagged the hose  of one of the pumps.  The pump overturned, electrical connections were severed and a fire ensued, quickly extinguished by the Kingsport Fire Department.  By the time I got there, the fire was out and the KFD was mopping up.

I just looked up the photo I took.  It’s at newspapers.com.

The station was built in 1955 by J.D. Smith.  I remember him well, but from the 1980s or so.