Spindler Service Station
Spindler Co. Phillips 66 Service Station 827 S. 10th Street in Manitowoc, circa 1940.
In 1924, the Spindler Company of Manitowoc began construction of the Spindler Service Station, a truly unique building that would become a city landmark for decades.
Before building the iconic Spindler Service Station, however, the company had a long and storied history. John and Johanna Spindler came to the Manitowoc area in 1855. Their son, Charles would go off to serve in the Civil War and afterward, learned the foundry trade. He returned to Manitowoc and became an officer of the J.G. Johnson Company, precursor to the Spindler Company, which began as a distributor of coal and ice at the intersection of 10th and Quay Streets.
As early as 1899, the company sold blocks of ice that were cut by saw from the upper Manitowoc River. In 1921, they built the area’s first “artificial” ice plant. The company changed with the times, diversifying their product lines to bulk fuel, building materials, and fireplace equipment. Facilities were added on S. 19th street to provide bulk fuel oil and ready-mix concrete.
Nestled amongst their warehouses and manufacturing plants, a quirky little filling station modeled after a quaint English cottage was completed in 1925. The building, with its swayed roof covered with slate tiles and accented with copper rain gutters, looks more at home in the English countryside than the streets of Manitowoc.
The building was designed by architect Charles C. Reynolds, who won several awards for his work. The hand-hewn timber frame building was constructed without nails. Wooden pegs held all of the beams together. Its walls were built from stone and plaster, reaching a thickness of several feet in some places. Leaded stained glass windows finished off the look of the cottage. The functional filling station sat above the fuel storage tanks, having the capacity of six railroad tank cars.
The inside of the station was white plaster, highlighting the hand hewn beams along the ceiling. A loft adorned with a sign proclaiming “Ye Loft” provided elevated seating along the south side of the building. In the center of the room, a black wrought-iron chandelier hung from a long chain. Seemingly, every detail of the structure was carefully considered. The weathervane, perched atop the slanted roof was in the shape of a man pumping gas into an old convertible roadster and the hinges on the heavy red oak front door were in the shape of an oil can spout. To the south of the building, a picnic area was available for weary travelers to stop and take a rest.
The unique style of this filling station was somewhat of a trend during the 1920’s. As the automobile became more widely used, crudely constructed filling stations quickly began springing up in residential areas. There was a public backlash against the influx of commercial buildings. The result was often a compromise, with filling stations being designed to look like residences- some with a little more character than others.