Giant gas pump, Packard replica on Route 30 reminders of bygone days

Gas was an average of 22 cents per gallon when gas pumps resembling the 21-foot-tall replica along Route 30 east between Latrobe and Ligonier were used in the 1940s.

Now, tack on an additional $4 to that price and the 4,900-pound supersized structure is a reminder of bygone days. It stands outside the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor’s museum near the Route 217 interchange.

Another reminder is the 1920s Packard replica of the luxury car on Route 30 in Hempfield, near the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and North Greengate Road.

Both “roadside giants” were erected more than a decade ago in different spots, but have been moved to their current locations. The gas pump was built by students at Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technical School and the Packard and driver by their counterparts at Central Westmoreland Career and Technical School.

Dozens of teachers, students, community members and local businesses pitched in to get the huge items created and installed as part of a $49,000 grant. The corridor’s executive director overseeing the project at the time, Olga Herbert, was “very much community minded,” said Ann Nemanic, who was a member of the community committee for the gas pump.

During a couple visits to the career and technical center during the project, the students were enthusiastic about the work and its addition to the region’s history, she said.

“They truly knew that they were doing something very special,” Nemanic said.

As executive director of GO Laurel Highlands, Nemanic said the office receives phone calls from visitors about the “roadside giants.” Lauren Koker, director of the corridor, said the structures bring tourists into the area.

The gas pump originally was erected a few miles away westbound on Route 30, at the Route 259 intersection, in Ligonier Township in April 2009. Koker said a plan to put the organization’s museum there was scrapped for its current location on Route 30, to where the gas pump now stands on the eastbound side of the highway.

The Packard was reinstalled this winter after disappearing in the summer of 2019 for repairs because it was hit by a car, she said.

Additional “roadside giants” include a bicycle built for two in Somerset County near Jennerstown, an oversized quarter with a profile of George Washington in Bedford County and a 1921 Selden pickup truck in Franklin County. All were created by students of career and technical schools.