Wright’s Service Station - Stopping Now Would Be Wrong - California
You’ve most likely zipped past this abandoned service station, if you’re a Hwy 395 junkie. It’s been closed for a long time, nothing to see here, keep moving along. But every place you see like this has a story, and sometimes, they’re wacky. And sometimes, they’re ordinary. I think the story behind this service station is rather extra-ordinary.
Back in the late 1940s, a man by the name of John Grant created “one of the finest sports centers in California.” Having been one of the builders of the world-famed aqueduct that carried/stole water from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles, Mr. Grant was apparently a man of means. And an ardent sportsman who greatly loved hunting and fishing. So he acquired some property and built a little sportsman enclave in the Eastern Sierra, which he called, “Grant.”
Most of the remaining architecture in Grant (and if you blink twice, you’ve driven through) was once his. From an old brochure: “The J.G. Motel (south of this building) offers the weary tourist all the comforts of the finest hotel, with rates from $3 up. There is an excellent café (across the street), and one of the finest and most complete service stations in the United States; adjacent to this service station is the Airborne Pack Station which operates planes into the fishing and hunting areas of the High Sierra.”
But for this post, we’re looking at the “finest and most complete service station in the United States, one of.”
At one time, the service station was owned by a man name Bill Wright. That’s about all the info I could dig up on it.
In this up in space image, you can see the runways that John Grant had built, to fly his hunting or fishing customers in and out of the area.
I’m sure someone owns the building and the property, but it doesn’t look like anything is being done with it, other than using the inside for storage.
And wright across the street, the famous “Airflite Cafe.”
What a cool little ghost town, created by a man in the late 1940s, that thrived and survived for many years. Think of all the travelers who stopped at the gas station, or the cafe. Or spent the night in the motel. I love spots like this. With the realignment of 395 taking place soon, it might not be as easy to visit Grant. But it’s worth the effort.
Thanks for reading!
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