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Shell Oil Company "Spectacular" Sign

Coordinates: 42°21′24.5″N 71°06′51.9″W / 42.356806°N 71.114417°W / 42.356806; -71.114417
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shell Oil Company "Spectacular" Sign
The sign and filling station pictured in 2008
Shell Oil Company "Spectacular" Sign is located in Massachusetts
Shell Oil Company "Spectacular" Sign
Shell Oil Company "Spectacular" Sign is located in the United States
Shell Oil Company "Spectacular" Sign
LocationCambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Coordinates42°21′24.5″N 71°06′51.9″W / 42.356806°N 71.114417°W / 42.356806; -71.114417
Built1933; 91 years ago (1933)
ArchitectDonnelly Electric Manufacturing Co.
Architectural styleModerne
NRHP reference No.94000546 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 3, 1994

The Shell Oil Company "Spectacular" Sign is a historic advertising sign by the Shell USA (the US-based subsidiary of Shell plc) located at 187 Magazine Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

History

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The Shell USA sign was built in a Moderne style in 1933 by Donnelly Electric Manufacturing Company, and was originally located on the Shell Company building in Boston on Commonwealth Avenue, which now houses Boston University Academy.

Night view of the sign

It was moved to its present site adjacent to Memorial Drive in 1944. It is, along with the Citgo sign in Boston, one of only two surviving advertising signs of its type in the area.[2] Although the regular station signage is updated to reflect the company's current logo, the "Spectacular" sign itself also remains in the same location where it has always been.

The sign was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ "MACRIS inventory record for Shell Sign". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2021-12-13.

Media related to Shell Oil sign (Cambridge, Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons