Beam's Shell Service Station and Office, (Former)
Also known as: C. Grier Beam Truck Museum
Why it's listed
Built around 1930 on a corner lot one block north of Cherryville's main commercial street, this former Shell service station is a small cross-gabled building in the Spanish Mission style. It has stuccoed walls over a brick water table, arched windows, and a roof of Spanish-style metal tiles. Out front stand a concrete pump island and two old visible-type gasoline pumps topped with seashell-shaped glass globes. The station retains the typical features of its era, including a corner site, a setback wide enough for cars to pull up on either side of the pumps, and a paved lot. It also has a connection to trucking history. In 1934, C. Grier Beam used the middle room as the office for his young trucking business, which grew into Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation and was the nation's sixth largest trucking firm at his death in 1992. The company moved out in 1938. Today the building serves as the gift shop and entrance to the C. Grier Beam Truck Museum.
Significance in brief: It is presented as an exceptional, highly intact example of early 1930s Spanish Mission style service station architecture. It is also tied to C. Grier Beam, who ran the earliest office of what became Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation from the station's middle room starting in 1934.
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 97001221, listed October 17, 1997. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 117 N. Mountain St., Cherryville |
|---|---|
| County | Gaston County |
| Listed | October 17, 1997 |
| Reference number | 97001221 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1930 to 1938 |
| Architectural style | Mission |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Now serves as the gift shop and entry point for the adjoining C. Grier Beam Truck Museum; the building is in near-original condition. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Cherryville Downtown Historic District |
| Coordinates | 35.37984, -81.37986 (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 97001221.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4876168
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.