JSU News Wire

Long before McDonald's sold their first hamburger in Jacksonville, there was a service station on the Pelham Road site. First it was a Gulf station (photo above, circa 1930s, courtesy of Mr. Rufus Carr of Jacksonville), then a Texaco at the time the land was sold to make way for the fast-food restaurant. Mr. William Kilgore of Jacksonville was the last to operate a service station there. The photo at top was made from the corner of the Ide House property looking north, with Pelham Road visible at the far right corner. The house in the background sits on what is now the parking lot of Subway Sandwich Shop, which is in a strip mall at the corner of Third and Pelham. In the present-day scene below (photo by Al Harris), the service station was located near the area in front of the grass and shrubbery in front of McDonald's.

Then & Now

McDonald's Property, 1930s