Rolling back the clock
BCHS temporarily reopened historic gas station
Michael Koester portrays a 1950s gas station attendant Saturday in front of the historic filling station on Center Street in New Ulm, next to the Brown County Historical Society Museum. The reenactment is a trial run for a future vintage service station museum. (Photo by Christina Koester)
Michael Koester cleans a windshield during a 1950s gas station reenactment Saturday on Center Street. Visitors were invited to drive their classic cars over the rubber service belt to ring the bell for full service, including windshield washing, headlight buffing and tire pressure checks. (Photo by Christina Koester)
Sweeping up Saturday on Broadway, full service style! (Photo by Christina Koester)
Michael Koester portrays a 1950s gas station attendant Saturday in front of the historic filling station on Center Street in New Ulm, next to the Brown County Historical Society Museum. The reenactment is a trial run for a future vintage service station museum. (Photo by Christina Koester)
Michael Koester cleans a windshield during a 1950s gas station reenactment Saturday on Center Street. Visitors were invited to drive their classic cars over the rubber service belt to ring the bell for full service, including windshield washing, headlight buffing and tire pressure checks. (Photo by Christina Koester)
Sweeping up Saturday on Broadway, full service style! (Photo by Christina Koester)
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NEW ULM -- The Brown County Historical Society brought a piece of New Ulm’s automotive past back to life on Saturday with living-history programming at its historic gas station on North Broadway.
As a trial run for future community events and a fundraiser for the museum, BCHS invited classic and vintage car owners to pull into its former Shell station, the small Art Stone building beside the city's iconic popcorn wagon on Center Street.
The historical pumps currently on display belong to BCHS, which acquired the building in the 1990s and recently restored the vintage gas pumps, light standards, and Shell signage with support from the New Ulm Area Foundation.
Stepping back into the mid-20th century, volunteer Michael Koester portrayed a 1950s gas station attendant to welcome drivers and help raise funds for the BCHS.
Car owners were invited to drive over a traditional driveway signal hose, triggering a nostalgic bell ring as they pulled in.
The focal point of the reenactment was the building. Originally, opened in 1938 as part of Retzlaff’s Motor Company, it once operated as a fully functioning service center for one of the nation’s first Dodge dealerships.
In the 1960s, the property became Auto Electric Service.
Christina Miller Koester, programming coordinator for the Brown County Historical Society, said the Artstone building has future potential.
“It could become a replica vintage service station or museum,” she said.
True to the golden age of motoring, Koester leaned into the role, complete with period-appropriate services.
“We don’t have the gas pumps up and working right now, but I can wash the windows, buff the headlights, and check the tire pressure,” he said.
Full-service attendants of the 1950s provided much more than just fuel, offering essential maintenance such as checking tire pressure, supplying air and water, washing windshields, buffing headlights, fixing flats, and performing oil changes.
Koester said attendant attire varied depending on season and duties.
“It was kind of varied, but sometimes in the warmer or colder weather, they’d wear a full mechanic’s outfit,” he said. “Sometimes they’d also be mechanics, and so they wore the full mechanic getup, coveralls, and everything. But they were classier back then, so a nice bow tie, a nice button-down shirt, and a nice hat.”
He added with a laugh, “And in all the old pictures, the guys that look like the Michelin Man had white pants, white shirts, and white hats. How do they not get oil or gas all over themselves?”
The BCHS living-history display welcomed community members with firsthand memories of the site, including local resident Dean Warta who stopped by to reminisce.
“I used to get gas there,” Warta said, recalling fuel prices ranging from 25 to 35 cents a gallon when he began driving in the mid-1960s.
He also shared memories of his first vehicle, a 1956 Chevy he purchased for $50 as a teenager.
“We’re trying this out once. We’re planning on growing it for next year,” said Amy Johnson, executive director of the Brown County Historical Society. “So if we only get a couple of people today, that’s fine. We’re testing it out, and we’ll be back.”