History Service station in the bygone era.

I've been searching for info about a service station my grandfather operated in the early 50's on Long Island directly across from Jones Beach..the Wantagh area...I 'think' it was a Gulf station. It would have been on the road that became the Parkway and was demolished to make room for 4 lanes of traffic...If any members here lived on the island and have vintage photos I'd love to see them.

 

I found info for a buddy by checking local newspapers from that era on line.
Found a one-page ad for the grand opening.
Might be a start for you.

 

There are online archives for newspapers, or your local or state historical society may have them online as well. Some of the archives require admission, or are a part of ancestry.com; one I've found that's free (but has a limited number of papers available) is http://www.stparchive.com/landing.php

 

What was his name? It will be difficult to search for anything without either his name or the name of the station.

 

His name was Al Steier, and I THINK it was a Gulf station...he left Wantagh in '54ish.

 

I couldn't find anything so far. One more place to look.

 

Check out this thread you might find something in this huge thread.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/images-of-vintage-gas-stations-pre-65.1033288/

 

Images-of-vintage-gas-stations-pre-65 is a great thread. The problem is that very few of the pics are labelled and he won't know the station if he sees it. I couldn't find a city directory or phone book for the Jones Beach area online to get the name of the station. I didn't see anything on Newspapers.com mentioning him or a station. That said, there are plenty of newspapers that aren't on the big commercial newspaper sites. The Sanborn Fire Insurance map for Jones Beach is not online. It will show location, size of building and ownership (or company name). Being in NY, your library may have resources for both the newspapers and the Sanborn maps. Otherwise, your best bet is the closest historical society to Wantagh.

 

I checked with my buddy who grew up on L.I. and he remembered the Wantagh area and the street, but unfortunately not the station. Keep looking!

 

Thanks for all the effort...

 

If there was a high school in the area, you might search yearbook ads for that particular year.
Also, there is a Wantagh Preservation Society.