Franklin Caruther's Gas Station, George Washington Gas Station and Joseph Rollins' Sundry Store

Franklin Caruther's Gas Station, George Washington Gas Station and Joseph Rollins' Sundry Store descriptions by Julian C. Caruthers

• Franklin Caruthers’ Service Station — On the corner of Washington Ave. & Hawthorne St., across from today’s Colonial Beach Library & Museum. Owned by F.C. Caruthers (Julian’s father) from the mid-1930s to 1941. He left for work at Dahlgren in 1940, and Geo. Mason ran the station during the summer of 1940 (per Julian’s recollection).
  

• George Washington Filling Station (AMOCO) — Photographed in the early 1930s; located on the southeast corner of Washington Avenue. Sam Ellis operated it in later years.
  

• Joseph Rollins’ Sundry Store — A two-story storefront marked “Toilet Articles – Soda and Lunches – Sundries” at the northeast corner of Colonial Ave. & Washington Ave. Julian notes this as his birthplace (Mar. 2, 1934) and that his family lived in the apartment over the store from 1934–1940 before moving.

Franklin Caruthers’ Service Station Origins & Location

Franklin C. Caruthers, father of historian Julian C. Caruthers, opened the service station in the mid-1930s. It stood on the corner of Washington Avenue and Hawthorne Street, directly across from where the Colonial Beach Library & Museum is today.

Operation

• The station operated through the Great Depression era, serving both local residents and summer visitors.

• Franklin Caruthers ran it as a family business until around 1940–41.

• In 1940, Franklin began working at Dahlgren Naval Proving Ground, a major source of employment in the region during wartime.

• That summer, George Mason temporarily ran the station while Franklin transitioned to his new job.

Community Role

The service station wasn’t just a fueling stop—it was a neighborhood hub:

• A place where locals gathered, swapped news, and relied on dependable service.

• Stations like Caruthers’ were vital in the early car culture of Colonial Beach, when automobile tourism was growing alongside the town’s boardwalk and riverfront attractions.

Legacy

Although the station closed by 1941, its memory is preserved in Julian Caruthers’ handwritten recollections, shared through the Colonial Beach Historical Society. Today, the site holds historical significance as part of the town’s commercial and cultural fabric during the 1930s–40s.

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George Washington Filling Station (AMOCO) in Colonial Beach.

Location & Early Years

The George Washington Filling Station—often remembered simply as the AMOCO Station—stood on the southeast corner of Washington Avenue in Colonial Beach.

• Photographs from the early 1930s show the station with the distinctive AMOCO branding.

• It was strategically placed along Washington Avenue, then one of the main thoroughfares leading visitors to the boardwalk and waterfront.

Operation

• In its early years, it served both townspeople and the growing number of tourists arriving by automobile, which was beginning to replace steamboat traffic as the dominant way to reach Colonial Beach.

• The station offered gasoline, oil, and basic automobile services in an era when roadside filling stations were symbols of modern convenience.

• By the late 1930s and onward, it was operated by Sam Ellis, who became well known in town as its manager.

Community Role

The AMOCO station was more than just a business—it represented a shift in Colonial Beach’s economy:

• It marked the town’s embrace of automobile culture, as families increasingly traveled by car for summer vacations.

• Stations like this one helped shape Washington Avenue into a commercial corridor, lined with shops, service stations, and sundry stores.

Legacy

While the George Washington Filling Station no longer stands, it remains a key piece of Colonial Beach’s early 20th-century story:

• A sign of the transition from riverboat to automobile tourism.

• A landmark remembered in photographs and in the writings of Julian C. Caruthers, who documented its presence and importance to the community.
  

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Joseph Rollins’ Sundry Store in Colonial Beach

Location & Building

Joseph Rollins’ Sundry Store stood at the northeast corner of Colonial Avenue and Washington Avenue, right in the heart of Colonial Beach’s business district.

• The building was a two-story structure.

• The ground floor carried a bold painted sign across the front: “Toilet Articles – Soda and Lunches – Sundries.”

• The second floor contained apartments, which were rented out to local families.

Operation

The store was a classic early 20th-century sundry shop—a mix between a general store and a pharmacy counter:

• It sold toiletries, household items, small groceries, and light lunches.

• The soda fountain was a social hub, offering ice cream and cold drinks to locals and summer tourists.

• Like many sundry stores of the time, it doubled as a place for conversation and community gathering.

Personal Connection

For historian Julian C. Caruthers, this store held very special meaning:

• He was born there on March 2, 1934, in one of the upstairs apartments.

• His family lived above the store from 1934 to 1940, before moving elsewhere in town.

• His childhood memories tie the building to everyday life in Colonial Beach during the Depression era.

Legacy

While the original store is gone, Joseph Rollins’ Sundry Store represents a slice of small-town commercial life in the 1930s:

• A place where locals and visitors could find necessities, share a soda, and connect with neighbors.

• Its corner location and welcoming storefront made it a visible landmark on Colonial Beach’s main street.

• Through Caruthers’ writings, the memory of the store lives on as part of the fabric of Colonial Beach’s community history.