LOOK: Clemson Historic photo #52 'Esso Club shuttle service in 1974' |
| - - Saturday, May 23, 2020, 8:36 AM |
TigerNet will be posting several historic Clemson photos during this difficult time with no Clemson sports.
TigerNet user Witt Langstaff, Jr. sent in the following photo of him driving an Esso Club Shuttle Service picking and dropping off students on campus in 1974. The picture was taken in front of Brackett Hall. Langstaff's take: No charge for the shuttle service, just a way to get people down there. No set schedule, but made a couple trips most Friday afternoons when the weather was nice. The Esso Club was a very different place back then. The bar was in an old service bay to the right of what was basically a convenience store where the main entrance now is … and yes, they did pump gas at the Esso Club in those days. The bar was just a side business connected to the gas station/ convenience store with a regular crowd of locals and students. The Esso Club owners, Bob Higby and Lew (Francis Lewis) came up with the idea to run this casual shuttle service. It worked well as long as the weather was good. My recollection is that Bob bought out Lew in the late 70s, renovated the building and moved the bar to make it the main focus of the business. This picture was made by a TAPS photographer in 1974 but not used in the Clemson yearbook. They gave me a copy because it was my truck and I was the driver. I worked in the bar part-time on Fridays. Feel free to share your thoughts that come to mind about our latest historical photo. Hopefully, everyone will enjoy looking back over the years at Clemson. P.S. Please send any historic photos you would like to share to tony@tigernet.com.
