A Short History of the B and L

The first gas station built on the lot was constructed in the 1920’s and first appeared on the Williamstown Fire Map in 1922.

However, the brick station that was home to the B&L was not built until 1952. Over the years, the station had passed through a number of different owners. Red Danaher was the original owner of the station and he also ran a taxi service in town. Gordon Bullet, who later became a reporter for the North Adams Transcript once worked as a manager. Williamstown native Franics “Whip” Perry was also a well known long-time employee of the station.

In 1967, Art Lafave, along with his father in law Alvin Brassard, took over the station from previous owner Lenny Nichols, renaming it the B&L.

The real estate was leased from Gulf Oil Corporation for five years, after which Lafave and Brassard bought the land. The Gulf station quickly became a focal point for the community. Gulf Oil was a difficult company to deal with and in 1989, the B&L became a Mobil Station. Mobil recognized and honored the service station in 1996 as achieving the “highest level of professionalism.”

In 1992, Lafave bought out Brassard and became the sole proprietor. In 2000, after 33 years of working 80 hour weeks, Lafave decided to shut down the station. The land was bought by Herb Allen and subsequently donated to the college.

Special thanks to Art Lafave, Amy Lovett, and the House of Local History for images and articles.

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