Consultation with Kentucky Heritage Council staff determined that the Octagonal Filling Station/Store is Eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterions A and C. Under Criterion A, the Octagonal Filling Station/Store was found to be significant for its association with transportation, roadside architecture and the growth of the US Highway system, and under Criterion C, it was found to be significant for its design.
The 1920s witnessed the burgeoning of car culture in the United States marking the transition from transportation by the “steel horses” of the railroad to the more singular experience and freedom of a personal automobile. The number of automobiles on the road increased from approximately 8,000 in 1900 to over a million by the 1920s. That exponential growth required resources like filling stations to keep cars moving. In that era, road trips were known as adventure touring, and one can imagine traveling on the roads then was an adventure.
In nearby Ohio, Union Metal Manufacturing Company (Canton, Ohio) was producing prefabricated modular octagonal gas stations in the 1920s with documented examples in Ohio, Illinois and Iowa. While it is difficult to know the exact inspiration for the Octagonal Filling Station/Store on Winchester Road, the examples manufactured in Ohio are a possibility. They were known as a lubritorium and had small waiting rooms with vending machines and restrooms, a design example can be seen below on the cover of the Union Metal Catalogue. Another possible inspiration for the octagonal form is closer to home, the octagonal gatehouse at nearby Elmendorf (FA-557) on the Paris Pike.