After the turn of the twentieth century, change was on the horizon for towns both big and small across the Midwest. While trains were still the best way to travel long distances, the use of automobiles was beginning to surge, the sight of cars becoming common even in rural North Dakota. The growing number of cars meant a pressing need for modernized gasoline pumps, which were safer for filling fuel tanks than pouring five-gallon cans of fuel into the tanks. By the 1920s, the sale of gasoline was organized into specialized locations known as gas or filling stations. Within a few years after people began to buy automobiles, there was a filling station in nearly every town, including Cavalier.

In 1929, a service station was built in the heart of Cavalier. Boasting a rounded door, peaked roof, and outside chimney, the service station was certainly unique. It also held bragging rights as the first gas station with electric gas pumps in the state and was labeled as the grandest gas station in North Dakota! At the time, gas was being sold for roughly 21 cents a gallon, quite a change from today! Over the years, the station has gone through multiple iterations, from Freschette Oil to Stevenson Oil, to Ben’s Service Station. However, after decades in service, the last tank was filled and the building abandoned. But the story doesn’t end there.

By 2023, the station’s disrepair left the city of Cavalier with very few options. On the brink of demolition, Kyle and Melissa Gagner approached the City Council about preserving the historic building. They purchased the building with the intention of restoring it to its former glory. Today, the service station is one of the few historic buildings left in Cavalier and, while it is no longer pumping gas, thanks to the dedication of the Gagners, its legacy continues.