Then and now: A gas station for 5 decades
This is possibly the oldest continuing, uninterrupted gas station in South Lake Tahoe.
According to notes on the back of this photo dated 1954, Allen E. “Brownie” Piedmont was the owner of this Flying A gas station.
The aerial photo is also from the 1950s
It is now Tahoe Tom’s at near Stateline.
The black and white photos are from the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum, while I took the color one.
— Bill Kingman
These are great, thanks for getting them posted and please keep doing so! Is there a place where all of these then and now pictures can be seen?
I’d like to see the Historical Society Museum be able to afford to post their collection through their website. This is a wonderful asset to our community.
I look forward to these photos every Sunday. Thanks Kae and Bill.
Ah. I see. Tahoe Tom’s and it’s previous incarnations have been an eyesore since the 50’s.
look at all those trees..
Biggerpicture,
You should be ashamed of yourself. Thats back when Tahoe was a great place to live.
Brownie was also the Road Foreman for the County here in the South Lake Tahoe area and went with the City as Superintendent of Public works, when the City incorporated
Brownie was a great friend.
Old Timer, in my view it’s still a great place to live. But even great places to live have some blight. And Tahoe Tom’s fits that bill.
Blight does not mean tear down. The Block Hotel and Cedar Lodge were eyesores after the City shut them down for non-payment of TOTs. In those cases, new owners did renovations. Tahoe Tom’s could use some TLC while retaining it’s place as a long term community member. Snowflake is a good example of a retail business and Stardust is one of a motel which retain the look of the original with pride.
Maybe the taco wagon shouldn’t be allowed to plug into their water and electricity. It looks tacky to me.
I used to work there in the mid 70’s. As a matter of fact. The Air Compressor I have in my shop is from this station. It was built in 1953 and it is still running.
Tahoe Tom’s also has two other ‘distinctions’ – (1) it is the found source for the additive (MTBE) that the oil companies thought would mitigate the air, only to find out it was worse for the water table: STPUD has accrued at least $ 70,000,000 in settlement money with what was discovered there (and elsewhere), and (2) it is actually now owned by one-of-my-South Tahoe High contemporaries who now lives in Oregon: Tom Erickson – hence, “Tahoe Tom’s”.
It, of course, was across the street corner from the original Cecils’, which at one time was run by the Milovich’s, whose daughters, Hazel & Virginia, were also STHS classmates with Tom.
As to the naysayers, it has been there prominently through an era which had over 50 gas stations at about the same time, when there was actually enough traffic to support them all
. . . that’s why I don’t agree with the Loop Road; we have no traffic now to speak of !! . . .