Pure Oil Service Station
Also known as: K & S Machine Shop
Why it's listed
At 56 West Avenue in Lavonia, a one-story brick building with a steeply pitched roof was built in 1935 as a Pure Oil service station. Its design followed national service station styling, which used home-like features to help a commercial building fit into village and residential surroundings. Here those features include a hooded, arched doorway with a residential stoop, a bay window and a side chimney. Inside are arched doorways and pressed-metal ceilings. The Wofford Oil Company, locally called Woco Pep, built it and hired local people to manage it. It was sold in 1961 and kept operating as a Pure Oil station until the early 1970s, when Pure Oil merged with Union Oil. It later housed a tire recapping business and then a machine shop. The original blue tile roof, a corporate symbol, has been replaced and rear additions were built. The site, at the edge of the commercial district beside a residential neighborhood, suits the design, and the building documents the automobile's arrival in Lavonia.
Significance in brief: The nomination holds that the building is an example of national service station design in a small community, using domestic elements to blend a commercial structure into a village and residential setting. It is also significant in transportation as one of three early service stations in Lavonia that document the history of the automobile and the shift from livery stables. A reviewer noted it was slightly under 50 years old but accepted it on the strength of the statement of significance.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 83000216, listed September 1, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 56 West Ave., Lavonia |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | September 1, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83000216 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Designed by Pure Oil Co.; builder unknown |
| Architectural style | National service station styling with domestic design elements |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Used as a machine shop after the tire recapping business closed; the original blue tile roof has been replaced and brick and concrete block additions were made at the rear. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Lavonia Commercial Historic District |
| Coordinates | 34.43547, -83.10776 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 83000216.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q55757533
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.