LUTHER, Okla.–Over 100 people crowded around the historic Threatt Filling Station Friday on a narrow stretch of America’s mother road as state and national partners dedicated a monument honoring the first Black-owned gas station on Route 66.
It was once a refuge for Black families seeking a safe place to rest and stop while traveling across the country during the violently racist Jim Crow era. The Threatt family has spent the last 10 years restoring the property and gaining recognition for its place in history.
“We never envisioned that we would be here when we first got started,” Ed Threatt told the Black Wall Street Times at Saturday’s unveiling of the monument, which includes a QR code taking visitors to the Threatt Filling Station Foundation website. Back in 2015, he and two of his relatives came together to begin the process of restoring the legacy of their grandfather, Allen Threatt Sr.
“Years ago, Black people didn’t have a place they could stop when they were traveling, and this is one of the places that my grandfather opened up that they felt safe they could stop at,” Cecelia Taft told the Black Wall Street Times.
Historic stop on Route 66
The Threatt Filling Station became the eighth site to receive a new Route 66 monument, with 10 more planned along the route that stretches from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. It comes ahead of the 100-year anniversary of Route 66.
“You could go anywhere on earth, and people know what Route 66 is, and these stories like at Threatt Filling Station need to be told,” Brian Brown, a representative of the Route 66 Centennial Monument Project, told the crowd.
Threatt Filling Station: A living legacy
Before segregation laws were overturned in the U.S., the simple act of taking a trip near or far was dangerous for Black travelers. Now, travelers passing by or stopping at the Threatt Filling Station, which is being converted into an interpretive education center, will better understand history.
“They’re going to be able to learn the entire story,” said Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association. Despite facing bigotry, the Threatt family opened its doors to all people. Elsewhere on the mother road, “that hasn’t always been the case,” Martin said.
Allen Threatt Sr. opened the filling station in 1915, a time of blatant discrimination.
On top of being denied essential services like food, gas or rest, stopping at the wrong place could lead to harassment, humiliation, threats or physical violence from racist white Americans, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Despite the obstacles, the Threatt Filling Station expanded to include a cafe in 1937. Dances, barbeques and Negro Baseball League games were held on the property. Ultimately, the station went out of operation in the ’70s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Offering rest after sundown
David Threatt is the great-grandson of founder Allen Threatt Sr. “Can you imagine traveling through a sundown town and your kid or yourself have to use the restroom,” he told the Black Wall Street Times.
While not categorized as the South, Oklahoma has a long history of racism. The state’s first law in 1907 was a Jim Crow law that segregated public transportation based on race, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. Outside the South, Oklahoma holds the record for having the most racial terror lynchings, according to the Equal Justice Initiative.
At least 58 towns in Oklahoma were probable sundown towns, according to a database from Mississippi’s Tougaloo College.
“It’s starting to get dark. You don’t know where you’re going to go if you needed something to eat, if you’re hungry. So it’s so important to have a place like this that you can stop,” David Threatt said. “My great-grandfather was generous enough to allow people to actually spend the night on the land, spend the night so they can make it to sunrise instead of getting caught up in the sundown South.”
The family said the plans to convert the historic Threatt Filling Station will be complete in 2026. “It’s just amazing to see the transition of how far we’ve come as a country, and for the Threatt Filling Station to be a part of that history. It’s just amazing to be a part of that legacy,” David Threatt said.
Related Stories:
- Historically Black-owned gas station on Route 66 makes a comeback
- Black cyclists in Oklahoma bike 600 miles to all 13 Black Towns
Comments are closed.