Tucson Oddity: Hutlike structure near Stone underpass has long business lineage; many recall it

Two weeks ago we asked anyone and everyone who might know about the history of the building at 503 N. Stone Ave., on the northwest corner of Stone and Sixth Street.

The response was overwhelming, with about a dozen phone calls and more than 20 e-mails with tips about what the property held before Tanno took it over in 1957.

The original structure was built sometime after 1923, when construction began on the Stone Avenue underpass, Gene Caywood, historian and board chairman for the Old Pueblo Trolley, wrote in an e-mail.

The first mention of 503 N. Stone Ave. in the old Tucson city directories that were published annually was in 1928, when it was listed as an unnamed restaurant owned by M.L. Stephenson.

By 1930, the property had morphed into a combination cafe and gas station, wrote Demion Clinco of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. A picture of the corner, showing an "independent" gas station selling Dixie gas and a restaurant called Earl's Place, was included in the 1985 book "From Main Street to Miracle Mile," Clinco wrote.

From 1931 to 1947, city directories listed Southland Oil Company as the property owner, a fact several callers and e-mailers confirmed.

That includes Raymond Bautista, 82, whose parents owned the neighboring Bautista Shoe Shop just to the north.

By 1948, the property was known as the Schumann Service Station, according to city directories, and T.W. Schumann remained the listed owner until Tanno acquired the property in 1957.

Among the people who called in to discuss the building's history was Garold Roberts, 87, who said that after returning from World War II, he spent six years working at the Schumann station, spending his weekends changing the oil on trucks from both the Rainbow Bakery and the Tucson City Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company.

Got oddity?

Is there something you've noticed while driving through Tucson that has piqued your curiosity to the point you wish you could find out more about it?

Drop us a line, and we'll look into it.

Call Brian J. Pedersen at 573-4224 or send an e-mail to bjp@azstarnet.com