The Pulver Brothers / The Filling Station

As demand for oil and automobiles increased in the early 1920s, brothers Benjamin A. (1875-1960) and Elmer E. (1880-1965) Pulver formed the Pulver Oil Company to distribute Sinclair Oil products. In 1923 they built this filling station on Franklin Street. Renamed Grand River Avenue, the street soon became part of M-16, which linked Detroit and Grand Haven. In 1926 it became the first all-paved highway across the state. The Pulvers owned eight filling stations by 1930. The Filling Station The Pulver Brothers built this Craftsman-style filling station using the once popular house-with-canopy design in 1923. Its diagonal orientation allowed access from both Capitol and Grand River Avenues. The Pulvers operated the station until 1938. Gasoline was last pumped here in 1953. The building served various functions until the 1960s. After decades of neglect, it was rehabilitated in 2011 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.