112 W. FRANKLIN ST.

Built circa 1934 as a Pure Oil Service Station, owned and operated by Ben Strowd. In 1945, A. H. Poe purchased the property and expanded the structure to incorporate a Plymouth/DeSoto automobile dealership, renaming it the Poe Motor Company. In October 1956, Poe sold the property to Charlie Stancell (and it was renamed the Stancell Motor Company), who in turn sold it to the Uzzle Motor Company in 1963. Within a few years it was the Gardner Motor Company.

Photograph circa 1950 (via UNC)

1951 ad (via CHW)

1958 (via CHW)

Exterior of Gardner Motor Company, circa 1968 (via Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Exterior (left side), Quik Food Mart, circa 1968 (via Chapel Hill Historical Society)

The structure in 1978 (photo by Jerry Cotten via Chapel Hill Historical Society)

View north east, 1978 (via Preservation North Carolina)

The "complex" now encompasses 106, 108, 110, and 114 West Franklin Street. In the 1990s, the old gas station (middle) section became a Caribou's Coffee, and is presently (2020) a Moe's Southwest Grill.