The Street Seen: A Main Street Gas Station
2612 Main Street @ Ocean Park Blvd
From 1924 to 1973, on the southwest corner of Main and Ocean Park Blvd, there is an automotive service station.
In the 1910s and 1920s, as transportation transitions from horses to automobiles, Feed & Fuel stores give way to automotive service stations. In 1924, Greek born Gust Barelos1 opens a Shell Service Station2 at 2612 Main St.3
In 1924, at 2612 1/2 Main St, in the building behind the gas station, Ray Eggleston opens Root Tire.4
In 1926, the gas station structure is moved back (west) 30 ft to accommodate the widening of Main Street. Gust’s Service is an independent station selling Shell,5 Associated,6 and Gilmore7 gasoline. Gust Barelos is there till about 1937.
In 1940, Tommy Estes8 is the gas station manager. In 1947, two Douglas Aircraft employees, R.L. Riddle9 and J.A. Moore,10 own the property.
In 1954, Saul Bloom11 operates the gas station as Saul’s Seaside Service.12
In the 1960s, the Santa Monica Parking Authority13 acquires the Main St property south of Ocean Park Blvd. All of the buildings on the Parking Authority property are demolished in the early 1970s.
The California Heritage Museum currently occupies the site of the former gas station.
Gust Samuel Barelos (1883 – 1953). Born in 1885 in Greece, Barelos comes to the US in 1903. From 1917 to 1921 he sells soft drinks at the Pickering Pier. In 1923, Barelos accuses former Venice City Attorney T.J.K. MacGowan of embezzling $100 Barelos gave him to secure a concession at the pier. From 1924 to 1937, Barelos runs the gas station at 2612 Main. He lives at the Ocean Park Hotel (110 Pier Ave ). In 1937, he receives a loyalty award from Associated Oil. We can not find any mention of the gas station between 1937 and 1940. Saul Bloom operates the gas station after 1954. Barelos never married, and by 1950, he has moved from the Ocean Park Hotel across the street to the Edmund Hotel (111 Pier Ave).
The 1924 12 ft x 13 ft prefabricated steel building is by Los Angeles-based Pacific Steel Building Company for Shell Oil Company of California.
2612 Main St. property is lots 35 & 36 of Block R of the 1892 Santa Monica Commercial Company Tract.
In 1924, at 2612 1/2 Main St, Ray Eggleston (1896 – 1947) opens Root Tire. By 1930, John Matheson auto repair occupies this space.
Royal Dutch Shell enters the California oil market In the early 1910s. In 1914, its subsidiary, Shell Oil Company of California, completes a state-of-the-art refinery at Martinez. By 1916, Shell's West Coast operations have become fully integrated from well to consumer. At this time, the company designs and builds its first service station. In 1922, as a way fend off the political harassment that it suffered as a 'foreign' company during WWI, Shell buys most of the Union Oil Company of Delaware.
San Francisco-based Associated Oil Company, founded in 1901, serves much of the West Coast. In 1932, Associated Oil creates the prominent Flying A brand for its premium-grade gasoline. Associated Oil merges with the Tidewater Oil Company in 1938. In 1966, Phillips Petroleum Company (now ConocoPhillips) purchases Tidewater's western refining, distribution, and retailing network. Phillips rebrands all Flying A stations in the region to Phillips 66.
Los Angeles-based Gilmore Oil Company is the first to market its gasoline by color - its Blu-Green gasoline is seen through the clear glass globes atop the pumps. Gilmore introduces the gas-a-teria - offering a discount for those who pump their own. Gilmore dominates on West Coast from the 1920s to the early 1940s. In 1948, Gilmore Oil is acquired by Mobil.
T.L. Estes (1894 –1961). Born in Arkansas, from 1910 to 1929, Estes is in CO. In 1920, he marries Mae Esther Hymer (1900 – 1992). Estes comes to Ocean Park in 1930, where he is working Barelos’ gas station. By 1940, he is the manager of the gas station and living 2414 Beverley Ave. From 1947 to 1961, Estes is retired and living at 2501 2nd St.
R.L. Riddle (1893 – 1970). Robert and Petra Riddle also own 181 Ocean Park Blvd.
Saul Bloom (1905 - 1993). Born in Iowa, by 1930 Bloom is in Omaha, NB. In 1942, he marries Sarah Grasso (1920 – 1955) in Los Angeles. In 1946, Bloom is a salesman in Huntington Park before opening Saul’s Seaside Service at 2612 Main in 1954.
Saul’s brother, Sam Bloom (1903 - 1982), opens Sam’s Auto Service (automobile repair) at the adjacent 2616 Main St in 1947. In 1960, they operate Bloom Bros Used Cars at 170 Ocean Park Blvd.
The Parking Authority is established by the City of Santa Monica in 1950 for the acquisition or building of parking, and maintains and operates parking lots and parking structures. The City Council sits, as needed, in the Council Chambers, as the Parking Authority. The Parking Authority owns parking lots #9 & #10 & #11 behind Main St.