At Your Service: Mac’s 66
Located on the corner of Metcalf Ave. and 82nd Street in Johnson County is an exceptional example of a once common icon from the 1950s, Mac’s 66 gas station. On June 7, 1956, Stanley E. McGhee opened his new full-service Phillips 66 gas station at 8139 Metcalf Ave in Overland Park. In November of the same year, Phillips 66 salesmen and a complete line of full service attendants were on hand for a grand opening celebration that featured balloons and a six-pack of Coke with each purchase of gas. Although trends in commercial architecture have changed significantly since Mac’s 66 first opened, this station still retains much of its original 1950s look.
Gas stations of the 1950s were designed to stand out, a significant change from earlier styles that blended in with residential neighborhoods. These new gas stations often featured multiple attached service bays, an office area and large tilted glass windows to showcase tires, batteries and accessories. Buildings were specifically designed to emphasize convenience and full service, but also to impress upon the customer a distinct corporate image of modernity, speed and progress.
Although many 1950s gas stations featured an oblong box design and optional canopy, the different gas companies incorporated unique features into this basic design to identify their own line of stations. Phillips 66 created its unique look by featuring a red, white and black color scheme, a classic “A: canopy and tilted glass windows. A tall single pylon made of crisscrossing metal bars supported the futuristic upswept flat roofline at the peak of the canopy. The Phillips 66 sign was proudly featured on top. Constructed of concrete block, metal and large glass windows, Mac’s 66 features two diagonally aligned service bays and all of the unique style features of a classic Phillips 66 station.
Today, most gas companies are designing stations with a convenience store area. As a result, older stations are slowly but surely disappearing from our commercial landscape. However, Mac’s 66 is still in full operation and owned by the original owner’s son, Steve McGhee. Fortunately, Johnson County still has a piece of our unique “car culture” heritage in Overland Park where Mac’s Phillips 66 is still at our service.
--ALBUM vol. 16, no. 4 (fall 2003)