Jackson’s West Coast Garage, A cornerstone of Largo’s history

For almost 90 years, Jackson’s West Coast Garage has been a cornerstone of Largo’s rich history. We have learned recently …. it may soon be a thing of the past!

Sometime around 1935, Emmette Jackson (b. 1890) built the West Coast Garage at its present location at 280 West Bay Drive. That year, Emmette’s son, Duke William (D.W.) began working alongside his father as a mechanic. With World War 2 raging on in Europe just a few years later, gas rationing was instituted; bicycles were taken out of storage, walking became a necessity, and horses became a mode of transportation once again. Folks would pull up to the pumps at Jackson’s garage and purchase 10ȼ worth of gas – just enough to get them home!

D.W. continued to operate the garage after his father’s retirement in 1955. He did very little commercial advertising in Stan Pecarek’s Sentinel, relying on his reputation for honesty and good “word of mouth” advertising. D.W. passed away in 1973; his wife, Miriam, continued to operate the garage presiding over the front office greeting customers who chatted with her while their cars were being serviced! In 1977, Miriam sold the garage to David and Rita Luczak; owners Loch, Prewitt, C&R Property Investors, and 280 West Bay LLC followed.

We’ve come a long way from the days of 28ȼ gas! Gone, too, is the familiar ‘ding-ding’ as you pulled up to the pump alerting the station attendant who pumped your gas and cleaned your windshield. The Pan Am station, McCalister/Gilliam’s Sinclair station, Lumsden’s Pure Oil, and Itchy Crawford’s Phillips 66, have disappeared as well.

Did you know the history of the West Coast Garage actually goes back further than 1935? The original rusticated brick garage was built on the south side of Church Street (Bay Drive as we know it today) as shown in the Sanborn Fire Map of 1917 below. Ownership of the garage (pictured at right) remains unclear; however, research indicates it was open for business as early as 1913. The Kilgore and Hammock families are said to have owned the business from 1918-1920.  Family historians tell us Emmette Jackson purchased this original garage in 1921.

As the Society’s founder and preservationist, Sadie Johnson, once remarked, “I’d like to see Largo mix the old with the new. So much of old Largo has gone because of progress. I sometimes have trouble with that word.” Jackson’s West Coast Garage is lucky to have survived these past nine decades; however, “progress” seems to be wielding it’s wrecking ball once again and one of the last remaining historic buildings in our downtown may soon be part of history! The museum committee is hoping to preserve a small piece of this historic structure to add to our museum collection.

Source: Largo, then ‘til ….; Pines and Palmettos, a Portrait of Largo, Florida; Reprint Wise Cracker, August 2013; Pinellas County Property Appraiser; Tampa Bay Times 1996; historical records collection, LAHS.