Albany #3

March 31, 2021

Sing Food Store

404 South Slappey Boulevard

Albany, GA 31701

Albany 3 was one of Sing's longest operating locations. While the physical station changed drastically over the years, the location remained the same: three blocks south of Oglethorpe Boulevard (Bus US 19/82) on Slappey Boulevard. Until the northern portion of the Liberty Expressway was completed in the late 1970s, Oglethorpe Boulevard was the primary thoroughfare through Albany and probably would have seen more traffic than any other road in the city. While I do not know for certain, this station likely opened in the late 1930s or early 1940s as Darsey's Gas House - a dealer operated station. As with most of the dealer stations, each manager could add unique aspects to the day to day operations of the station with the main commonality being branded signage and fuel distribution. Just a note, the image above features one of Sing's original sign designs. These were phased out in the mid-to-late 1950s and replaced by a porcelain sign with the streamlined bird, shown below. While there may be a few around in collections, I have never seen if one of these early signs still exists.

Darsey's Gas House - Old Albany #3 in the 1950s - Slappey Blvd - Sing Oil Company - Albany, GA

Herschel Darsey (Left) - Dealer

As shown in the pictures, Darsey's Gas House was proud of its clean restrooms, free ice water, and "Nibble Nook" with various refreshments. Herschel Darsey, on the left in the image above, was the dealer for this location. The two other men in the photo are unidentified.

Darsey's Gas House (Albany #3) in the 1950s

As with many service and filling stations at the time, the structure was nothing more than an office and possibly a restroom. These images capture a simpler time in American transportation history. This station was probably opened in the late 1930s or early 1940s since it did not utilize Sing's standard dealer station design of the late '50s and early '60s.

Darsey's Gas House (Albany #3) in the 1950s - View from Slappey Boulevard

Notice the coal pipe in the background of this image

I found it interesting to see the stove pipe on the adjacent building. This picture would have been taken in the South Georgia winter since all of the trees are barren. It looks like they are burning coal, which was common practice in residences even in the twentieth century, due to the solid black stream of smoke.

It is also fascinating to note the lack of Sing branding and the emphasis on dealer acquired signage. The only branding I have seen at other stations from this era is the $AVE with $ING billboard in the background and the porcelain road sign. The building signage would have come from Coca-Cola in exchange for displaying the Coke logo and selling the product. The pumps also lack Sing branding.

Sing Oil Sign - Old Albany #3 in the 1950s - Slappey Blvd - Sing Oil Company - Albany, GA

Albany #3 road sign in the 1960s - probably facing Slappey Boulevard

The road sign for the station featured mostly standard sign hardware, with the exception of the birds sitting on the line above. It looks like the dealer may have hung gourds on the sign post for Indigo Buntings as well.

Notice this sign has the word "Products" below the bird in the logo, which is less common than signs that only contain the logo. Although they are rare, both of these sign variations can still be found today with collectors throughout the Southeast.

James Mathis, dealer at Albany #3 in the 1960s - Slappey Blvd - Sing Oil Company - Albany, GA

James Mathis, dealer at Albany #3, image probably from the mid '60s

It looks like the Darsey's Gas House was torn down and rebuilt as a late-'50s, early-'60s model station. It is possible that this was in 1963 because the Dougherty County Tax Records state the building was sold to Sing Oil Co #3 on January 1, 1963. This could have been when Sing bought out the dealer and built a new model station. Eventually, the "new" dealer station was torn down and a convenience store was built on the site. This station must have been profitable for it to operate as a Sing station for over 50 years! Amoco sold this station to the local distributor, Autry Petroleum, on September 2, 1992, and soon after they replaced the pumps and canopy with new combination pumps. Sing also owned the adjacent building and leased it to Dixie Service Cleaners at the time of its merger in 1990. That building was torn down sometime between 2012 and 2019.