Service Station Switcheroo

May 20, 2026 steveboilard3 Comments

The other day I was in downtown Sacramento and came across an auto repair shop that, I was told, used to be an Orbit Gas station. (Alert readers will recall I’ve developed a minor obsession over documenting the extant remains of the Orbit gas station empire.)

At first glance it does bear some resemblance to Orbit’s distinctive roofline, particularly the pointy projections of the star-shaped roof:

And yet upon closer inspection, this is but a pale imitation of an Orbit. As a point of reference, he’s the real thing:

Note that the genuine Orbit station has no need for those clunky girders that are holding up the ersatz building. They look clumsy and out of place, like the truss towers that hold the colored lights at a Black Sabbath concert.

Moreover, the middle part of the building–the actual interior space where Orbit stored quarts of oil and V-belts, and where they displayed an outdated calendar featuring bikini-clad women suggestively holding auto parts–is framed by a pleasant arch, while the copycat building just has a blocky, angular roofline. It’s the difference between Michelangelo and Picasso.

So we can officially put the kibosh on the rumor of another former Orbit station in downtown Sacramento. But do let me know if you stumble upon any other leads about extant Orbit infrastructure. We’ll do our best to give it the Snopes treatment.

URGENT UPDATE

Just as we were going to press, we reviewed an earlier post where we deemed Suzie Burger in Sacramento to be a former Orbit gas station. This claim is validated on various online sites. And yet, the building looks remarkably similar to the auto repair shop that I’ve deemed to not be an Orbit. Here’s my photo of Suzie Burger:

Notably, a 2019 article in the publication Inside Sacramento says Suzie Burger is “a former Orbit-style gas station” (emphasis added). Maybe there was a knockoff Orbit-style chain of gas stations?

So, here’s how things stand:

Orbit definitely had gas stations in Sacramento, and a few of them still stand today.
There are at least two buildings–Suzie Burger and A-1 Auto Repair–which look sort of like Orbit if you quint. One of these is dubbed a former Orbit, and the other isn’t.
Did Orbit have two styles of buildings? Did Suzie Burger undergo some kind of transformation from a “real” Orbit to an Orbit-“style” building?

You can rest assured we’ll get to the bottom of this.

Space-Agéd

February 23, 2026 steveboilardLeave a comment

You may recall that last year I took an interest in the old Orbit gas stations that have somehow survived from the 1960s. My most recent Orbit-related post concerned an abandoned station near Lake Tahoe.

I mention all this because yesterday loyal reader Victor R. shared with us a news item about an old Orbit gas station in north Sacramento. It seems this Orbit station was built in 1963, and ceased operation as a gas station a scant 7 years later. Since that time it’s served various functions, most recently as a used car lot. But last year the car lot closed, and the building has sat vacant behind a fence topped with razor wire.

Vic shared a KCRA story about how the Sacramento Preservation Commission voted to recommend that the City Council place the station on the local historic register. Frustratingly, the news item only showed an aerial shot of the gas station. So I decided to head out to North Sacramento and get some ground-level photos for you, dear reader.

Even stripped of its gas pumps and signage, the structure is unmistakably an Orbit gas station. Here’s a photo I took by poking my camera through a gap in the surrounding fence:

But viewed from the street, the fence makes for an ugly tableau.

Still, the local residents spoke enthusiastically in favor of preserving the structure. “It’s got its own personality for sure; it’s got character,” stated one resident. “To have this go away would be a disservice to our community,” said another. A third noted “It reminds me of a flying saucer,” which, to be honest, it clearly does not. But there is something alien about it.

I think the point, though, is that residents in the area like the odd structure. Notably, while I visited today, it was clear that the neighborhood (which is dubbed “Gardenland,” not for any greenery, but because of its proximity to the Garden Highway) is struggling. Northgate Boulevard, on which this gas station sits, is lined with a depressing array of struggling fast-food eateries, grungy liquor stores, and predatory check-cashing businesses. I can see how a quirky retro-futuristic building might bring some much-needed whimsy and optimism to the area, particularly if it were repurposed as a community center or maybe a hip coffee shop.

*Wouldn’t it be great if the sign were changed to “Jetsons Java”?*

So I’d encourage my Sacramento-based readers to let your Councilmember know that you support having this building designated a local historical landmark. Meanwhile, please send me any sightings of other Orbit stations.

Obelisk Corner

Faithful Reader Ron P. shared this photo of the Wellington Testimonial (which is evidently a fancy way of saying “monument”) in Phoenix Park, in Dublin (Ireland).

(New readers may want to check this post to understand this blog’s fixation with obelisks. It’s not what you think!) Anway, the Wellington Testimonial was erected (so to speak) in 1861, and it’s 203 feet tall, making it the tallest obelisk in all of Europe. As a point of reference, the Washington Monument is 555 feet tall, which I think handily proves the superiority of America.

California history · Cars

Googie!

March 7, 2025 steveboilard7 Comments

The other day I was driving along the freeway, observing the passing phalanx of big, blocky buildings behind the trees and sound walls that flank the freeway. These buildings all seem to have been conceived by a kindergartener for whom the words “office building” and “box” are synonymous, and then value-engineered to the apotheosis of vapidity–nondescript, slab-sided edifices with bands of tinted windows and, at a top corner, a single word in an unembellished font: “Kaiser,” “Allstate,” “Lennar.” We live in an age of soulless and tedious architecture.

And then, a little later, I spotted this in Sacramento:

*Don’t scratch your cornea on that pointed roof!*

Now this building has style and soul! I realize that’s not a great photo; it was difficult finding the right angle. But it’s an old Orbit gas station, now repurposed as a hamburger joint called Suzie Burger.

That this was once a gas station is obvious. Note the islands where the gas pumps once stood, and the enormous mullioned windows that used to be roll-up doors in front of the service bays.

Orbit gas stations used to be all around the Sacramento area, first showing up around 1963. They represented the future, or at least what people during the age of black-and-white TV and AM radio thought the future would look like. It’s got a very Jetsons vibe, all upswept and angular and exaggerated.

According to this website, Orbit’s distinctive four-point architecture was the brainchild of some guy named Ed Ward. There were about a dozen of them at their peak. Now, it seems that most have been torn down in the intervening 60-odd years. And yet the good people at Suzie Burger recognized that Orbit’s retro look would be a great calling card for their old-school burger joint.

I remembered that when I lived in Sacramento (pop: 525K) in the 1980s, there was still a handful of Orbit gas stations in operation. In fact, I regularly gassed up the Studebaker at an Orbit station near my apartment in Carmichael. What had happened to it? Had it been torn down? Or had it been converted to some other use? I decided to take a drive out there to find out. And what to my wond’ring eyes should appear but this:

Not only had it not been torn down, but it was still operating as a gas station. It even still bears the Orbit name!

So take that, you big, ugly, featureless office buildings! Even at age 62, this Orbit is still going strong. Next time you find yourself in Sacramento make sure you gas up at 4716 Auburn Blvd and support the preservation of Googie architecture!