Press Release from Jesse M. Deware IV
Jefferson, Texas, a former 19th Century steamboat port, is known for historic restoration. In Jefferson, there are many buildings which have been restored including the oldest, continuously operating hotel in Texas, the Excelsior Hotel.
Many Jefferson citizens are not only interested in preserving architectural structures from the steamboat era but they are interested in preserving architectural structures which relate to its history in the 20th Century.
In recent years, Jefferson supported an effort to save the circa 1933 Jefferson Forest Tower which was moved from a hill west of town to the center of east Lafayette Street to honor the Texas Forest Service and adapt it for improving cell phone service.
Today in Jefferson, another unique building is being saved and restored. The circa 1929 Humble Oil Company service station located in the heart of the downtown is being moved to a new location in order for it to be restored and adapted for new uses.
It was designed by John Staub, a famous Houston architect of the early 20th Century. Owned by the Nix Family Trust, this high style art deco, masonry building has orange and blue tiles for its logo and columns, a copper roof and pressed metal ceilings which for generations created a highway icon along the route of U.S. Highway 59, and later business U.S. 59, through the heart of Jefferson’s historic riverfront district.
It will be moved across the FM 134 bridge on Big Cypress Bayou to a permanent location near the south bank of Big Cypress Bayou at the south entrance to downtown Jefferson.
Much like the Forest Tower, the classic Humble Oil station will be adapted to serve new uses in Jefferson and provide a historical physical reminder of the importance of the petroleum industry in the improvement of transportation services in this region.