Roy Reicher’s father built this service station in 1939, and it stood at the east entrance to Washington, Missouri, along Highway 100 as a Derby and later a Zephyr dealer. The highway was rebuilt and modernized in 1971 to the south, and the station found itself on Old Highway 100, where it stands today after closing in 1987. Roy and his family still have a garden behind the station and in fields nearby.

My mom calls him Uncle Roy, although we are sketchily related. At any rate, I met him when he was selling watermelons and other vegetables at the station in 2003 when I moved to the area. He invited my wife and me to pick our own melons in the patch over by the river. We drove down the dirt road to the field and got stuck in the mud. Uncle Roy’s tractor pulled us out. I was captivated by the old building and surrounding goodies, and knew I would come back with a camera at some point.

I love the early morning light. The color and subtleties fascinate me. Catching something that I enjoy seeing is the reason that I make photographs. It's exhilarating to find new compositions among old things. As I walked around the station these few times during the spring and early summer, I imagined what it must have been like when this was the main road and the station was a thriving business. It seems like I’m looking into history, but what I'm really looking at is the simple beauty of the moment and what is before me and inside me.

Thank you, Uncle Roy!

Curt Dennison has been a professional photographer since 1982, when he
graduated with a B.F.A. from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
He lives in Washington, Missouri, with his wife and family.