History at the 4-Way
102 W Washington
Cuba, MO
This three-paneled mural is painted on the garage bays of a cottage-style, 1932 Phillips 66 station.
The building has been restored by the Bill Wallis family, with the assistance of a Route 66 preservation grant, and input from the Phillips 66 organization.
The station is important to the family because it was the site of their first Mobil station and the first office of Wallis Oil Co. in 1968. The year 2018 marks their 40th anniversary.
Today, Wallis Companies has more than 600 employees throughout Missouri and is one of the largest distributors of Exxon Mobil products in the United States. They distribute gasoline under the major brand names of Mobil, BP, Conoco, and Phillips stations in eastern, central and southern Missouri. The company’s headquarters is now the large brink complex across the intersection from the station.
Paul T. Carr build the station in 1932 as a Phillips 66 station. For years, Mr. Carr also ran a Pontiac dealership there. The small station served the Cuba community and a multitude of Route 66 travelers for years.
The Wallis family, in conjunction with Viva Cuba, honors the memory of Bill Wallis, who lost his battle with melanoma in 2001.
The first panel features a vintage Highway patrol car and trooper assisting a motorist. It honors the Missouri Highway Patrol’s 75th Anniversary, in 2006. Bill Wallis was a member of the Masters Association, which assists survivors of troopers who die in the line of duty.
The center panel features Mr. Wallis and his beloved 1966 Stingray Corvette at the station as it looked during the 1970s.
The third panel is a station scene based on an old photograph. It shows Mr. Wallis involved in a station promotion that attracted the children of Cuba. He was never happier than when he was in a group of kids. Logos on their t-shirts and hat show some of the organizations that were important to Mr. Wallis.
New Haven artist, Ray Harvey, commissioned to do the mural, has his own memories of the corner station. “My family usually stopped in the Cuba station on our way back from my grandparents’ farm in Mr. Vernon, and I think soda was 15 cents. My dad always filled the 1963 Fairlane with gas before the last leg into St. Louis. It’s just so ironic that my work has brought me back to this place,” Mr. Harvey said.
