Lindholm Oil Company Service Station
Having designed a gas station as part of his Broadacre City project in the 1930s, Wright approached Best Oil company owner, Ray Lindholm, a former client, with the idea of building a gas station in his hometown of Cloquet, MN.
The Lindholm Service Station turned out to be the only part of Wright鈥檚 visionary Broadacre City project that made it into the landscape of reality. Despite remaining largely un-implemented, Wright鈥檚 utopian plan for America foreshadowed post-war decentralization trends. The service station, in Wright’s words, would be “the future city in embryo,” which would “naturally grow into a neighborhood distribution center, meeting-place, restaurant … or whatever else is needed.” The gas pumps were originally designed to hang overhead, but were ultimately changed to meet safety regulations. Nevertheless, Wright鈥檚 unusual design for the station鈥攚ith its cantilevered copper roof, upper-level glass observation lounge and sky-lit service bays鈥攕et a new pump record for the company.
