Late 1930's- Saint Louis- The Wood River Refinery and Life on Delmar Blvd.

Shell Oil had three major refineries east of the rockies in 1929; Deer Park in Houston, NORCO in New Orleans, and Wood River in St. Louis. Sometime between April 1935 and 1938,  Shell transferred Elgin from Houston to Saint Louis.  

The Wood River Refinery was located on the east side of the Mississippi River just south of Alton, Illinois, and about 15 miles  north of St. Louis (which was on the west side of the river.)

Elgin was now working as a pipeline dispatcher.  A pipeline dispatcher's job would involve coordinating and controlling the flow of oil products through the pipeline and the distribution system. He had to work shift work, but it paid well. The 1940 census shows that he was 30 years old and making $2280 a year at this job. That would be nearly $40,000 in today's currency; in the midst of the depression, he was doing quite well.

Elgin at his teletype dispatch machine

He was living at the Broadmoor Apartments at 5414 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis. This appears to have been a good sized apartment building with about 40 apartments in the complex.

While there were a few married couples who were older, the majority of the residents seem to have been single young people in their twenties and thirties, who shared an apartment with members of their own sex.  There was a common dining room for the residents. With groups of young singles living so closely together, it must have been a lively dating scene!

Most of the young men appear to have been in office jobs- accountants, lawyers, engineers, managers, and clerks. The young ladies tended to work as secretaries, stenographers and typists, salesladies, teachers, and caseworkers.

 
 
 Elgin (now nicknamed "Gary") shared apartment #114 with 3 other bachelors; 27 year old Richard Glover, who was an artist in commercial advertising, 26 year old Charles Trueblood, an engineer, and 25 year old William Lloyd, who sold electrical insulation. The rent for their apartment was $80 a month, so Elgin's share would have been $20.

In apartment #113,  right next door, were two young ladies; 24 year old Pauline Allen and 23 year old Edna Edwards. Both were from Illinois, and both were secretaries; Pauline in the gasoline industry, and Edna for a wholesale drug company. They split a $30 monthly rent for their small apartment which had a pull down murphy bed for sleeping. Secretaries were not so well paid; they each made $840 a year.

 Edna was being wooed by a 29 year old accountant in #139 named James Trihey.  

My sister Ellen tells me that she heard this story of our parents meeting....Elgin found out that Pauline's toaster was not working and offered to come by and fix it for her. He must have done a good job.

Soon Elgin and Pauline were sweethearts. 

Wood River Refinery Museum video:

Further reading:

https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/V5-N2-Priest-Shell-Oil-Strike.pdf

This article tells a little about the Wood River Refinery history, but goes on to focus on the unions at the Shell refineries in later years. If my father ever belonged to a union, I never heard about it.