Roadside attraction

CLIPPER GAP -- A vestige of a past when things were quieter, slower and maybe just a little friendlier, Olivers lives on.The coffee crowd starts shuffling in from the cold shortly after the distinctive scarlet doors open at 6 a.m. Invariably, one of the regulars will be sitting at one of the tables with a crossword puzzle. Someone may have set down some surplus fruit from their tree for the taking.As the morning wears on, the coffee drinkers give way at the tables to some convivial beer drinkers -- fixtures at the combination bar-store and gas station that sets it apart from the normal convenience store.In the afternoon, the school bus will stop in front of the Foothills gas pumps, sending a throng of children into the store for snacks as cars wait nearby to pick them up.The hum of Interstate 80 disgorges the odd driver looking for directions. In the evening, commuters bound for home in far-flung communities like Applegate or Meadow Vista or Colfax drop in to gas up, gossip and pick up some food.Welcome to the world of Olivers. Tucked away on Lake Arthur Road, yards from the Placer Hills Road offramp from I-80, it's been a cozy fixture for locals and travelers since the days when Highway 40 -- the Golden Highway running 3,220 miles from Atlantic City to San Francisco -- snaked through the foothills.Throughout the day, it serves as a vibrant hub of activity in an area that longtime resident Doris Bailey said hasn't really changed much since she moved there in 1950.Olivers was a gas stop from at least the 1930s, around the time Highway 40 was built. Meadow Vistan George Lay said he remembers riding his bike to the store in the late 1940s for candy. It would burn down and be rebuilt about that time, serving as a Highway 40 roadside attraction until the road was decommissioned in the 1950s as Interstate 80 was punched through the Sierra. And while most of the autos passed by in a blur on the new super highway nearby, Olivers would continue on through a handful of ownership changes in a place that time nearly forgot.When the previous owner died and Denise Sinel heard from a customer in her Auburn auto repair shop that Olivers was looking for someone to take it over, she initially said 'no."But after a day of consideration, she began to ease into the idea of operating a business near where she lives.Sinel, who owns two vintage 1940s autos and admits to a love of old things, said she never has really understood why she decided to sign a lease and take over the store with the bright red and yellow trim.Since the summer, she's worked to spruce up the place, adding tables and removing a rustic bar, painting the exterior and interior, and bringing in her brother, David Olson, as manager."It's homey and very comfortable," Sinel said. "I wanted to keep that feeling. And you can't change the history."Sipping on a Bud at one of the tables, retired state worker Rick Sinclair said the changes took a little getting used to but are being accepted by the crowd of regulars. On Wednesday morning the seats were filled early and by late morning, business continued at a brisk pace at the 15701 Lake Arthur Road gas station and inside."They've done a really great job," Sinclair said. "It's friendly and all the locals come in here."Olivers is one of the few living reminders of a time when Highway 40 was a main cross-country route for travelers and truckers. The eastern end of the highway remains, stopping in Utah.In Placer County, portions of the old route now carry black and white Highway 40 signs to guide everyone from weekend sightseers to sentimental journey-takers to history buffs. The historic trek includes living landmarks from times past like Penryn's Valencia Club, Colfax's Giovanni's restaurant and Old Town Auburn.Newcastle's Jack Duncan, author of "To Donner Pass From the Pacific: 150 Years of History," said Olivers is part of history that has seen its course shifted several times as new routes are carved into the Sierra and beyond. Duncan drives his Model T Ford on the route to get a feel for how others in past times would have seen the road. While the road no longer exists on maps, much of it remains as part of the county road network. In fact, Duncan said he can drive from Roseville to Baxter on the old road, crisscrossing over Interstate 80 several times.As for Olivers (Sinel said the spelling does not include a possessive apostrophe), Duncan said that he'd be hard-pressed to say that it's the oldest operating gas station on the Highway 40 route still open in California. Lay, a former president of the Placer County Historical Society, said a safer bet would be to say it's the oldest one of its type in Placer County.The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.