Making a profit at the Sinclair station was difficult as Route 66 traffic dwindled

The once familiar Sinclair service station that stood on the downtown corner of Broadway and Webb streets had several owners over its lifetime. One family who owned and operated it in the early 1950s was a local couple: Bill and Virginia (Woodard) Johnson. 

After serving in the Army in World War II, Bill came back to his hometown of Webb City and, like other servicemen, began to search for a good job. However, he was hard pressed to find one right away.

When Bill was 12 years old he had lived with his family on Liberty Street. Playing outside one day, he challenged his younger brother Toby to fire his BB gun. Toby fired a shot and struck Bill, resulting in the loss of one eye. His family tells the story that he could not acquire a good job because he had only one eye. However, the Army had no trouble taking him.

Soon after the war, Bill married Virginia Woodard, a Webb City girl who Bill had known and adored since childhood. They soon started their family, with Larry in 1947 and Kathryn in 1950.

At the encouragement of his mother-in-law, Doxie Woodard, Bill purchased the downtown Sinclair station and a dump truck in 1951. He worked hard at keeping the station going. Virginia, even with two young children at home, did the bookkeeping for Bill. They ran the station until 1953, when they decided that the business was slipping too much, largely due to a decrease in the Route 66 traffic that had flowed through town right past the station. Virginia said they “almost starved to death” trying to keep a profit.

Bill and Virginia sold the station in 1953 and took a job in Independence, Mo. They made their home there until Bill’s passing in 1964.