Wyatt's Oil Company -- A South Green Street Tradition

 There is only one Courthouse in the middle of the Glasgow Square. There is only one Plaza Theatre in Glasgow. There is but one South Green Street in Glasgow, and there is only one Wyatt’s Oil on that street (or any other street in probably a 50-mile radius). Though you have likely driven by this business a million times over the years, do you realize how rare and unique it is?

Wyatt's Oil has been a permanent fixture at the corner of South Green and Seay Streets in Glasgow for over 53 years.

Doug Wyatt accepted an invitation from Gulf Oil to leave his job down the street and run their service station at the corner of South Green Street and Seay Street in 1968. The station was about 15 years old then, having been run previously by Bill Wheeler and later Frank Pirtle. The Gulf Oil station was built on prime real estate, fronting the rapidly growing neighborhoods feeding off Seay Street. It was a part of the customary neighborhood architecture of the Vietnam War era. Households were walkable and within close proximity to grocery stores, service stations, and schools. Doug was sure he and Janis could make a life there, and he was right.

A few years later in the 70s, Gulf Oil began divesting itself of many small neighborhood service stations, and that prompted Doug and Janis Wyatt to go see James Trigg Pace at Citizens Bank and Trust, to borrow the money needed to buy that station. As usual in that day, James Trigg made that happen and the station became Wyatt’s Oil. Since then, a boom in industrial development made Glasgow pop, but later that boom became a bust. Through it all, Doug and Janis have operated Wyatt’s Oil the same way for 53 years, oblivious to the way Glasgow ebbed and flowed around them.

This is not a story about Doug and Janis deciding to close Wyatt’s Oil. It is true that they are ready to hand it off to someone, preferably (one would suppose) to their son or daughter, but that is not the route chosen by many children of aging business owners these days. Rather, this is a story about the way this wonderful throwback to the 60s still operates today, and how the business will continue to operate until the right offer is made to Doug and Janis.

Although this couple is well into their 70s, they come in most every weekday. They check the fuel tanks, open the doors, pull the old wrecker out of the service bay, turn on the pumps, read the paper, and settle in for friends and customers to come in to fuel up, or just simply friend up. In colder weather, Doug might also light a fire in the old wood stove in the service bay (this writer has no idea how this old process really works given the amount of combustible fuel in the service bay, but…53 years, okay?). Doug and Janis need to be there for these activities because there is not a hint of modern automation at Wyatt’s Oil. There is no credit card slot nor screen on their pumps. You pull up and pay the old-fashioned way. Now, Janis provides some human powered automation for those that need it. She will happily come out of the office and fuel your vehicle herself, if need be. She also replaces the credit card system by running a tab for old and trusted customers. That allows folks to pull up, fuel their vehicle, then nod to Janis that you are done. She will record the sale, add it to your others purchases for the month, and send you a paper invoice just after the first of each month! This is far friendlier than the credit card company, and it is a special quirk of this unique local business. I can also testify that this system was readily and effectively exploited by my children when they were teenagers.

In addition to buying gasoline, Doug and Janis (this is a real partnership of equals, but Janis is a bit more equal because she does the books too!) can replace tires, brake pads, and change your oil. In season, you can buy tomatoes and peaches too, harvested from the daughter’s garden. That is about all they sell, except for YooHoo and Bubble gum. Everything else at Wyatt’s Oil is not revenue producing. Conversation with them, and getting to hear their opinions on local issues, is the real magic behind their 53-year run. They are accommodating to the extreme. Everyone knows that they allow anyone running for office to place their signs in the grassy island between their pumps and South Green Street. These signs do not represent candidates they endorse. These signs are allowed because Doug and Janis are part of the fabric of the community, which used to be woven with cooperation and respect rather than the fibers of hate and fear mongering which dominate our fabric today. This island of southern tradition and warmth occupies the space at the corner of South Green and Seay Streets. The other fuel outlets in Glasgow are mostly akin to franchise fast food outlets. Wyatt’s Oil is more like a Farmers’ Market -- or your Mom’s house.  

Billy's Corner anchors the Sylvan Park neighborhood in Nashville by being far more than the old service station it was.

In Nashville's trendy west side there are neighborhoods in transition from blue collar to

upscale new and renovated homes. Sylvan Park is one of those neighborhoods, and there is a lot to learn there. Sylvan Park consists of, perhaps 300 homes, and at the center of those homes is a little commercial center with some restaurants, a dry cleaner, pizza joints, a tiny little grocery store, and one of the strangest old service stations ever. Billy’s Corner was remarkably similar to Wyatt’s Oil before it evolved into the destination it is today. Billy’s still sells gasoline and does some minor automotive repair, but the thing that pulls in the neighborhood crowd is that they have a short-order cook and a griddle where you can get fantastic breakfast items. They also have beer https://www.facebook.com/billyscorner  They can fill your gas tank and you can bring your own Growler (a glass or steel jug designed for transporting and storing beer) to be filled with a wide variety of local craft beers. Heck, they even have picnic tables and  ample seating for you to while away your Saturday morning with friends at Billy’s Corner.

Across Interstate 40 from Sylvan Park is another booming neighborhood called The Nations. Like Sylvan Park, it is an old blue-collar neighborhood presently being repurposed for younger immigrants to Nashville. Also, like Sylvan Park, the community is anchored by the essential retail establishments that are necessary for a pedestrian-oriented lifestyle. And guess what -- there is an old service station in the middle of it! Daddy’s Dogs is housed in that repurposed

service station, and it looks surprisingly similar to Wyatt’s Oil. After all, didn’t all older neighborhood service stations look alike? Daddy’s Dogs no longer sells gasoline – they sell fun! The menu https://daddysdogsnash.com/menu/ is simple. Think in terms of a few gourmet hot dogs, tater tots, and ice-cold beer. Add in picnic tables under the canopy where the gas pumps used to be, also add in the occasional dose of local acoustic music, and you have the recipe for an essential element for The Nations, and likely the new Glasgow.

When one adds up these conditions: Doug and Janis are looking for what comes next for their business; the location of Wyatt’s Oil is right on the sidewalk – the busiest sidewalk in town since everyone treats South Green Street as a wonderful park with a walking trail; a new Glasgow Greenway is about to begin construction, and that greenway will run parallel to Trojan Trail and end a very short distance from Wyatt’s Oil, you have to see the potential for this place. While it is not known where the new Justice Center might be constructed, but if it is south of the Glasgow Square, the odds are that it will include some upgrades to pedestrian ways in the vicinity. People who walk and ride bikes on greenways often look for destinations…destinations that have food, maybe ice cream, and surely some liquid refreshment.

It is not hard to see how Wyatt’s Oil might transition into a new life, one that continues to build on the success and community-building efforts of Doug and Janis over the last 53 years. There has to be a modern equivalent of James Trigg Pace and Citizens Bank and Trust that is willing to help some young person continue the Wyatt’s Oil tradition at the corner of South Green Street and Seay Street, but whatever this place becomes, the heritage of service and community building that was built by Doug and Janis, shall always remain.