Carl R. Douglass operated four Douglas Texaco Stations, the first of which he opened in 1926 at 9300 Cedar Avenue. In 1949 he got out of the filling station business and opened an apparel shop at 8627 Cedar Avenue. A native of Akron, Douglass had moved to Cleveland in 1923 following his graduation from high school. He took his first job as a waiter in the elite white men’s Tavern Club, located in a baronial Tudor-style fortress at Prospect and East 36th Street. He remained on the waitstaff for years after he started his gas station business but quit in 1940 once he reached the level of assistant manager and learned there was no opportunity for him to rise to manager. The Green Book continued to list his gas stations until 1951, so it seems likely that the stations remained open under new ownership after 1949.
Additional information coming soon.
Green Book Details
Douglas Texaco Stations appears in the Green Book from 1946 to 1951 at E. 93rd & Cedar Ave. under the category Service Stations. Other known locations include E. 90th at Carnegie and E. 107th at Fairhill.
Resources
- John E. Fuster. “‘New Look’ Comes To Cedar Avenue In Carl Douglass’ Apparel Shoppe.” Call & Post. May 21, 1949.