R.W. Lindholm Service Station

Story

The R. W. Lindholm Service Station is a service station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and located at 202 Cloquet Avenue in Cloquet, Minnesota. Built in 1958 and still in use, it is the only station built to a Wright design. It was originally part of Wright's utopian Broadacre City plan and is one of the few designs from that plan that was actually implemented. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.HistoryWright had designed station owner Ray Lindholm's house in 1952, and, knowing Lindholm worked in the oil business, presented him with a proposal to design the gas station envisioned as part of Broadacre City. Lindholm seized the opportunity to beautify gas station design, and Wright completed his design in 1956. The station ultimately cost $20,000, roughly four times the cost of the average filling station at the time.The station opened in 1958 under Lindholm's name; it later became a Phillips 66 station.Its construction was only a partial success for Wright, as his vision of the gas station as a social center never took hold. However, Phillips 66 incorporated several of the gas station's design elements, particularly the triangular cantilevered canopy, in later gas stations.The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 11, 1985, for its architectural significance.As of 2014, it operates under the Spur brand.