The Street Seen: Crescent Tire Works (Main St)
2001 - 2009 Main on Southeast Corner with Bay St
In 1922, Ocean Park businessman E.C. Japs builds an automobile service shop on the southeast corner of Main and Bay. The building later becomes the home of the Z-Boys and Dogtown and is landmarked in 2007. The building is currently occupied by Dogtown Coffee.
In 1916, E.C. Japs joins with his brother-in-law, Carl Louis George, in operating an automobile tire repair shop,1 Crescent Tire Works, at Main and Bicknell.
In 1922, Japs builds a $2,000 automobile service shop on the southeast corner of Main and Bay. The 1-story, 160-ft x 16-ft building is constructed by design-builder J.L. Schimmer.
The building opens with Duffy Cafe, Crescent Tire Works (moved from Main and Bicknell), and Gialand Battery Service.
In 1926, Crescent Tire Works, formerly owned by Japs and managed for the past year by James M. Shepard, is re-organized as Crescent Tire and Supply Corp with directors: E.C. Japs, R.C. Barr, and J. M. Shepard. From 1927, Japs of is president of Dillingham Printing Company specializing in the printing of tickets and coupon books.
In 1930, Japs is out of the tire business and opens a gas station on the Main and Bay corner.
In the 1970s, the building becomes the home of Dogtown and the Z-Boys and is landmarked in 2007. A mixed use development, proposed for the site in 2009, does not move forward. Dogtown Coffee currently occupies the north end of the building.
Early air-inflated tires frequently suffer from punctures, separations of layers, or the tread coming off. Instead of replacing the tire, a tire shop cuts out a bad section of the tire and fills the hole with raw rubber, then heats the section to vulcanize the rubber and restore the tire. Hot vulcanization repair is still done today for tractor and heavy equipment tires.
