ARCO

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. Late one night, a delivery driver pulled up to ARCO for a quick fill-up. As he pumped gas, he noticed an old man standing outside, whispering something into his hat. The delivery driver chuckled and asked him what he was doing. The old man replied, ‘Just talking to my lucky charm.’ With that, he tipped his hat and walked away into the night. Years later, whenever someone mentioned ARCO, the neighborhood would smile and say, ‘Oh, you mean where that old guy used to talk to his hat?’

2. One morning, while filling up his car, a regular noticed something odd: the gas pump seemed to be talking back. Curious, he leaned closer and heard it whispering, ‘Full tank? No, just full of hot air.’ Turns out, the pump was malfunctioning and had developed a quirky personality. The regular laughed it off, paying for half a tank and leaving the rest to the next customer—a delivery driver who swore he saw the pump wink at him.

3. One day, while pumping gas into her car, a woman noticed an unusual sign on the pump: ‘Fill Up and Win a Free Coffee!’ Curious, she filled up as usual, but when she looked down, there was indeed a small cup of coffee waiting for her. As she took a sip, another customer—a delivery driver—joked, ‘Looks like ARCO found a new way to attract customers!’ The woman laughed and thought, why not? Maybe next time I’ll win something even better than coffee.’

4. Early in the morning, when most stations were quiet, a jogger passing by ARCO noticed something peculiar: the pump nozzles seemed to be winking at him. Curious, he slowed down and peered closer—sure enough, the metal handles of two pumps appeared to flash faintly like little eyes. Startled, he looked around but saw nobody else near the station. Just as he turned away, one of the nozzles gave an exaggerated wink, making him laugh out loud. From then on, locals started calling it ‘the smiling gas station,’ and whenever someone mentioned ARCO, everyone knew exactly what they meant.