Bits and Pieces
The OK Service Station was located at E203 Broadway in Moses Lake. This photo is from the late 1930s or early 1940s and appeared in the 2001 CBH book “The Columbia Basin: a Photographic Perspective.”
This is a multi-part series about the past and present location of various businesses in Moses Lake, encouraged by a recent CBH article about visiting all of the local restaurants. Plus a letter to the editor, questioning some of the locations. Readers will find all parties may be correct at times and have some misconceptions at other times. Read on.
History is an interesting subject, but was not appreciated by me until this column was started about ... my, has it been almost 20 years? Bits and Pieces has placed history at my feet and I’m lovin’ it.
Of course, my deep interest revolves mainly around the Columbia Basin history, but sometimes we stray to the state, national or even world level.
Local history works into the recent adventure by the Bush and West families visiting every restaurant in Moses Lake. In the article, these diners related former businesses located in the same or general locations, a fun and interesting adventure.
OK Tire Service was mentioned in the article as being where Taco Time is now. Joe Davis, in a letter to the editor on April 21, noted this property did not house OK Tire, but Cook’s Phillips 66 Service Station.
Well both parties are partially correct and partially incorrect. This property housed the OK Service Station in the late 1930s or early 1940s, but for sure in 1957, as indicated in the 1957 telephone. Later, not sure of the exact year, Cook’s OK service was in the same place, as indicated in the 1978 telephone book.
Note the location is the same, E203 Broadway, and the phone number is the same, RO5-4033. The station is associated with Mobilgas in the photo, as symbolized by the winged-horse, but in the 1957 telephone book ad, it is a Phillips 66 station, as it was when Leonard Cook owned it.
The Bush and West families are considering inviting others to join them on their continuing quest to visit all Moses Lake eateries again, plus the new ones. If they allow the rest of us to join them, the event could become a Moses Lake history tour at every stop.
No one would be considered correct or incorrect, but simply a Columbia Basin resident interested in sharing history and learning about history. Oh the tour is sure to provide a great sampling of food, as well as history. What fun, my friends. Stay tuned.
Next week: More local history.