In the 1920s, automobiles grew extensively in popularity, and they all needed fuel to get around. Places like Guarantee Filling Station popped up on corners in every neighborhood to serve the community’s gasoline appetite. Men in coveralls swiftly tended to customers when they pulled up to the glass-domed pumps. It was a competitive business. To ensure customer satisfaction, the guarantee stated that if customers ran out of gas, they would “send a service car flying with the famous quality gasoline, any amount, anywhere, anytime at no extra charge.” Customers were encouraged to paste the station's phone number on their gas tank. The service station was bought out about a year after this photo was taken and renamed Pioneer Filling Station.

The photograph title reads “811 Grand Central Avenue, northeast corner of Grand Central Avenue and North Boulevard, but the address of 811 Grand Central Ave. falls closer to the center of the block. The beloved Valencia Gardens Restaurant shared that same address. The corner, 813 Grand Central (now Kennedy Boulevard), has also had many businesses. In the 1960s, it was Fellows Motor Company; in the 1980s, it was the Precision Nissan dealership. In 2009, the University of Tampa purchased the entire parcel and integrated it into its campus.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved