WILTON – There is only one place in town to buy gas – Brookside Mobile on Route 101 west. There used to be a lot of stations. The 1939 history booklet lists nine of them, most of them on Main Street. The 1976 Bicentennial commemorative book lists two.

The opening of the Wilton By-pass in 1955 changed the character of the downtown.

On Sept. 8, at a meeting of the Historical Society, long-time resident Stanley Young, now in his 90s, recalled those former businesses and Society President David Potter presented them as a slide show with additional background information, pictures and newspaper ads.. Over 20 people attended the presentation in the library rotunda.

“Does anyone remember,” Young asked, “when you went to a gas station and the attendant came out to help you?”

Many of those present did.

Then self-service became popular, Young recalled. “They had to change the pump style to prevent people from spilling the gas.”

Potter began the nostalgic tour on Lower Main Street. Some recalled the two pumps at the little convenience store as Wylie’s, others as Vanderheyden’s, but all recalled the pumps were on the sidewalk and customers parked in the street.

The last full service garage in town, a Chevrolet dealership, was the Wilton Auto Station, owned by the Draper family. Their building, next to the present Fire Station also housed Draper Fuel, Plumbing and Heating, and the offices of the Wilton Telephone Company.

Wilton native Jim McGettigan recalled his years of working there.

For many years, there was a Texaco station in what is now the Fire Department parking lot. There were many owners over the years, the last was Roger Currier. There was another station across the street but Potter found little information about it.

Roy Wasto’s Socony station was in the present Post Office parking lot. The Post Office building was Stanton’s store, and the upper floor housed many organizations including a movie theater and the Order of Red Men, a fraternal organization.

Drapers were the last owners of a garage in what is now Main Street Park. They had a Tydol station. Other owners included several Abbotts.

Until 1947, the western end of Main Street was dominated by the large Everett House hotel. Quigley’s garage, originally a livery stable, was located between the hotel and the bridge, in what is now the Proctor parking lot. The hotel was replaced by the present building housing an antique store and was, for many years, Harwood’s Market.

The section of Route 101 near the turn-off to West Wilton has also changed. Sherman’s Pit Stop restaurant replaced Gary’s Harvest Restaurant and is all that is left of many enterprises in the area.

The Wig Wam, a gift and novelty store, as well as a gas station, was located near Kingdom Hall. The original restaurant included Temple Cabins, when that type of motel was popular. A couple of the little buildings remain beside the road to West Wilton.

The West End store in West Wilton Village also had a gas pump.

What is now Brookside was built in 1971 by the Pelletiers, and was run by Drapers for many years. It was one of first self-service stations in the area and is also a convenience store.

“How times have changed, “Young said. “Five gallons for a buck?”

Who would have believed it?