Wadhams pagoda-style gas station

With its unique pagoda-style design, Wadhams Gas Station in West Allis, Wisconsin is one place I wanted to take a look at.

Built by Milwaukee architect Alexander Eschweiller in 1916, the steel-frame, glass-walled design is considered iconic.

The station was restored to the 1950 appearance in 2000 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the summer of 2004.

The building is quite beautiful with its remarkable red roof, and there are also lovely stained glass inserts in the roof displaying the letter W.

Looking inside the windows at the historic display, I was amazed at how tiny and efficient the space was and could imagine an employee hard at work in this tiny pagoda.

There are several old cans and bottles of petroleum products on display, and I thought it was funny how many variations of Mobil hand lotion there were. The mechanics must have been concerned about keeping their hands soft and supple back then!

There were also several neat maps and brochures on display.

While at the site, my husband checked the Geocaching web site and found there was a cache hidden on site, so we searched for that for a while before finding it, then logged our find and continued our travels.

Wadhams Gas Station

1647 South 76th Street

West Allis, WI 53214