Little Chief Service Station

Description of the Historic Place

Known for some forty years as the Little Chief Service Station, the small white building on the north-east corner of Avenue D and 20th Street is an example of a style once popular in service station design. It was built in 1929 and is located in the neighbourhood of Riversdale.

This historic place, located at 344 20th Street West, was designated as a Municipal Heritage Property in 2003. The designation pertains to the exterior of the building and its free-standing sign.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Little Chief Service Station resides in its Spanish Revival architecture. Built between 1928 and 1929 by the Texaco Oil Company of Canada Ltd., the former service station is Saskatoon’s only example of a Spanish Revival style service station. The plan reflects a growing aesthetic awareness in service station design toward an inviting “house” concept compatible with city neighbourhoods, with a departure from the previous “gas shed” concept of early service stations. In white stucco offset by decorative brick and rounded roof tiles, the station has a heavy tiled cornice, parapet roof with globe lighting and latticed apertures in a strong, bright articulation of Spanish Revivalism.

The heritage value of the Little Chief Service Station also resides in its association with the commercial development of Saskatoon. It was constructed in response to the growing use of motor vehicles for work and leisure. Farm vehicles and cars were regularly serviced at the station while their owners shopped along 20th Street - the main commercial artery of the Riversdale district. In 1943 the garage became the Little Chief Service Station, serving Saskatoon in this role for several decades before becoming a community police station in 2003. Today the Little Chief Service Station is used as an administrative office for the Riversdale Business Improvement District.

Through the City’s Heritage Awards Program, the Little Chief Service Station received an award for exterior restoration in 2004.

Source: City of Saskatoon Bylaw No. 8170 / City of Saskatoon Built Heritage Database / Canadian Register of Historic Places

Character Defining Elements

Key elements which contribute to the heritage value of this historic resource include:

• Its Spanish Revival architecture, evident in its tiled roof, white stucco finish, segmented windows, overhanging eaves, roof parapets, globe lighting and corner columns supporting its globe lighting; and
• Its placement on its original lot and its freestanding sign.