Though it had been a service station for decades prior, Willard (“Will”) Carne, Sr. began operating the site in 1967 after a rebuild. Today, two of his children, Paul Carne and Linda Howes, continue that legacy together.

Howes called it “a team effort,” noting she and Paul bring different strengths and that the business has thrived “thanks to the community’s loyalty and the hard work of countless amazing employees,” many of whom began their first jobs at the station.

Products from the Standard Oil Company were sold at the location for many years, dating back at least to the 1930s when the service station was LaFleur’s. The same place became Smitty’s Service Station in the 1940s and ’50s and Erick’s Service Station at one point.

In 1965, the station — then the Thielson Clemens gas station, still serving the Standard brand — was torn down and reconstructed.

Vehicles sit at a couple of the 10 pumps at Carne's Eco-Fuels at 2300 Ludington St. in Escanaba. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

In 1967, a schoolteacher in Republic, Mich., who had a service station in Iron River came to Escanaba to operate the station at 2300 Ludington St. That man was Willard Carne Sr.

It was only supposed to be for one summer, but Will is reported to have often said it became the “longest summer” of his life. He did not go back to teaching in Republic but instead relocated his family to Escanaba the next year and continued to work at that station until shortly before he passed away at the age of 92 less than a year ago.

As a service station, the place many have known as simply “Carne’s” for years was a multi-service provider with service bays and a car wash.

“We started out with three bays. Mostly we did a lot of brakes, engine tune-ups, mufflers, water pumps in the beginning,” Paul recalled.

“We even ran a wrecker service to tow cars in,” Linda said.

The alley-facing side of Carne's Eco-Fuels shop bears evidence of the building's history as a service garage. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

At the station, Will, Paul and others repaired starters, alternators, radiators and more, but did not do full engine rebuilds. Linda, who worked for an oil company and for a bank, brought different skills and experiences that helped with running other areas of the business.

Back when most stations were full-service, the business employed a large staff. “A lot of people in town had their first job pumping gas at Carne’s,” Paul said.

“So many people in Escanaba have a connection to this place — they remember working here or bringing their first car in for service or their first car wash,” Linda added.

Today, one full-time employee and roughly 10 part-timers work at the station.

The Carne surname stuck with the business when the oil brands evolved.

The car wash was built about 20 years ago, replacing one that had been part of the service station at the corner of Ludington and Lincoln since the 1960s. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

Standard Oil had existed since before the turn of the century. Amoco — which was a shortening of “American Oil Company” — was used as a byname almost interchangeably with Standard Oil between 1925 and 1985, when the Standard Oil Company name was officially dropped and the corporation became exclusively called Amoco.

The station Will Carne operated was for a long time Carne’s Amoco Service. In 1978, Will was named Amoco “Dealer of the Year” for the state of Michigan, an honor selected based on votes mailed in by customers. Linda referred to it as “a proud recognition of his reputation for service and integrity he earned.”

After years of leasing, Will finally purchased the service station building and land outright.

Drawing on all their experience, Will, his wife Arlene, Paul and Linda opened what today is called the Gladstone Mobil in 1997. Like the station at the Escanaba intersection, the Gladstone station also remains under Paul and Linda’s ownership.

In 1998, British Petroleum (BP) acquired Amoco. Branding conversion was slow, but they began changing over the names of Amoco stations to BP in 2000. Carne’s became a BP station for about 17 years.

For nearly three decades Paul and Linda had taken over day-to-day management. They oversaw the construction of a new stand-alone car wash in 2005, just west of the service station. It replaced the car wash that had been in the main building. That June, the business began operating as “Carne’s BP Service & Bubbles Auto Bath.”

With the launch of Eco Fuels and Gifts in 2017, Linda said the focus was to create “a cleaner, environmentally conscious retail experience while maintaining … (the) reputation for community service.”

In 2019, the business underwent another transformation. After 40 years in the garage, Paul shifted away from heavy service work and together he and Linda reimagined the space — converting the old service bays into a bright convenience store along with a unique gift shop featuring Upper Peninsula apparel.

“We wanted to bring something new while staying true to our roots — that’s how the idea for the gift shop came about,” Linda said. “The U.P. and Yooper products are about celebrating who we are. Locals love it, and visitors love taking pictures and a piece of the U.P. home with them.”

The concept drew inspiration from their Gladstone Mobil Gifts location, which also includes a gift store with U.P. products. Linda curates both locations’ retail gift selections, helping expand the Carne Eco Fuels & Gifts focus beyond traditional fuel service into a full customer experience that celebrates local pride and community connection.

The 2019 to 2020 redevelopment of the service station to a gift shop preserved a special piece of history: the original porcelain-covered steel ceiling that was installed when the building was erected in the ’60s. Paul said it took a lot of time to clean all the grease and dirt off while the tiles hung over the garage, but both siblings are pleased that they were able to save the ceiling during the remodel — “it actually looks pretty cool when you look at the ceiling in there,” Paul said.

While the oil market can be unpredictable and competition fierce, both Paul and Linda said the rewards of serving the community outweigh the challenges.

“The most important thing, probably, is the people and the relationships and friendships that come out of it,” Paul said. “Helping the public, and doing things with the public — all the number of good people in the community.”

From Standard Oil to Amoco to Eco Fuels, the Carne family has weathered industry changes, honored tradition and built a business that is as much about people as it is about fuel.

Close to 60 years since Will first began operating the Escanaba station, Carne’s Eco-Fuels and Gifts remains what it has always been — a proud family legacy at the corner of Ludington and Lincoln, still “fueling Escanaba’s spirit.”

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R. R. Branstrom can be reached at 906-786-2021, ext. 140, or rbranstrom@dailypress.net.