The Story Behind Colorado’s Petrified Gas Station: A Historical Marvel

Colorado is known for many things, including being home to a variety of things that date back many years. For example, one of Colorado's four National Parks, Mesa Verde, is home to ancient cliff dwellings, and dinosaur prints and fossils have been discovered in parts of Colorado that include Cañon City, Fruita, Morrison, and the appropriately named town of Dinosaur.

Read More: The Oldest Golf Course West of the Mississippi is in Colorado |

However, one interesting tourist attraction that is said to date back a whopping 175 million years has a reputation that some may find misleading as it's widely known as the "World's Oldest Gas Station."

The World's Oldest Gas Station is in Colorado

If you travel east of Pueblo, right before you hit the Kansas border you'll run into a town called Lamar, Colorado.

Get our free mobile app

It's in Lamar that you'll find what was once coined the "World's Oldest Gas Station." 

The building was erected all the way back in 1932 by a lumber dealer and entrepreneur by the name of William T. Brown. Legend has it that Brown was tired of using traditional construction materials such as wood and stone and instead made his building out of petrified wood.

Brown originally opened a gas station in the building that operated until his passing in 1957, at which point the business was converted into a car dealership.

While no businesses currently operate out of the petrified wood building, it is still standing all these years later and was even recognized by Ripley's Believe it or Not.