Provine Service Station / Lucille’s Place

The owner lived over the pumps. Carl Ditmore built this rural station in 1929 with family quarters on the second floor, an open service bay below, and the broad roof and tapered piers of a vernacular Bungalow Craftsman building. It was the practical architecture of a new roadside economy: home, work, fuel, and a traveler’s first question all under one roof.W.O. and Ida Waldroup bought it in 1934 and gave the station the Provine name. Lucille and Carl Hamons took over in 1941, raising their children here while serving the road. Lucille ran the place for nearly 60 years, earning “Mother of the Mother Road” through the help she offered stranded and cash-poor travelers. When Interstate 40 cut the station off in 1971, she adapted instead of leaving and kept the business alive until her death in 2000.The station no longer sells fuel and is not presented as an open shop, motel, or residence. The restored exterior, vintage pumps, marker, and memorial crosses make this a lawful roadside photo stop when the approach is safely open. Stay in designated public areas, keep doors and drives clear, do not enter or handle the pumps, and never cross traffic for a picture. The 2016 gallery image is documentary; verify current surface, parking, and access conditions on arrival. More

The owner lived over the pumps. Carl Ditmore built this rural station in 1929 with family quarters on the second floor, an open service bay below, and the broad roof and tapered piers of a vernacular Bungalow Craftsman building. It was the practical architecture of a new roadside economy: home, work, fuel, and a traveler’s first question all under one roof.W.O. and Ida Waldroup bought it in 1934 and gave the station the Provine name. Lucille and Carl Hamons took over in 1941, raising their children here while serving the road. Lucille ran the place for nearly 60 years, earning “Mother of the Mother Road” through the help she offered stranded and cash-poor travelers. When Interstate 40 cut the station off in 1971, she adapted instead of leaving and kept the business alive until her death in 2000.The station no longer sells fuel and is not presented as an open shop, motel, or residence. The restored exterior, vintage pumps, marker, and memorial crosses make this a lawful roadside photo stop when the approach is safely open. Stay in designated public areas, keep doors and drives clear, do not enter or handle the pumps, and never cross traffic for a picture. The 2016 gallery image is documentary; verify current surface, parking, and access conditions on arrival. More