Images of Beach Gate Texaco Station, Colonial Beach, Virginia

Scanned images from negatives by Otis Taylor

The Beach Gate Texaco Station in Colonial Beach, Virginia, holds a notable place in the town's mid-20th-century history. Constructed in 1960, this Texaco station was strategically located at the town's main entrance, an area historically referred to as "Beachgate" . The term "Beachgate" originates from an actual gate that once stood at this location, reportedly installed to prevent cows from wandering out of town. This gate marked the transition from the rural outskirts into the more developed resort area of Colonial Beach .

Over the years, the area surrounding the former Texaco station has evolved. Today, the site is part of the Beachgate Shopping Center, which houses various businesses, including a Food Lion and a Walgreens . Despite these changes, the historical significance of the Beach Gate Texaco Station remains a point of interest for those exploring the rich tapestry of Colonial Beach's past.

Where “Beach Gate” comes from

“Beachgate” was the historic entry point into town along Colonial Avenue/Route 205. Early accounts note there was once an actual gate there—reportedly to keep cows from wandering—so the name stuck for the whole area.

Pre-Texaco fueling at the gate

Automobile services clustered along the approach into town. By the 1930s a store at the Beach Gate already had a gas pump, serving motorists as they arrived for hotels and amusements downtown—evidence that the gate functioned as a travel-service node well before the later Texaco was built.

Built as the James Monroe Texaco (1960)

The purpose-built Texaco station at Beach Gate dates to 1960. In the National Register nomination for the Colonial Beach Commercial Historic District it’s listed explicitly as the “James Monroe Texaco gas station… built at the Beach Gate in 1960.” The same document uses the station as an example of post-war commercial development shifting activity out from downtown toward Colonial Avenue, where car traffic entered the resort.

What it looked like / did

While the nomination doesn’t give architectural detail beyond the date and brand, period images confirm a standard mid-century service station set to catch arriving motorists at the town’s threshold—pumps, office, and service bays typical of Texaco’s 1950–60s format. The Colonial Beach Historical Society has posted scanned photos from Otis Taylor’s negatives documenting the station in operation.

Role in town development

Placing a branded station at Beach Gate fit a broader local trend: as Colonial Beach moved from the steamboat era to auto tourism, businesses followed traffic toward the entrance corridor. The nomination notes this decentralization to Colonial Avenue in the 1950s–60s (the Texaco being a key data point).

What’s there now

The site forms part of today’s Beachgate Shopping Center (Food Lion, Walgreens, etc.). Even though the original Texaco no longer operates, the society’s write-up ties the location of those modern stores to the former station’s footprint at the town’s gateway.