Cities Service Gas Station, Naquin's Café, & Leonard's Hardware, Baldwin, 1960
The Baldwin Cities Services station, located on Highway 90 at the red light (the "Baldwin Curve"), was initially owned by George Lebourgeois and later by Chester Breaux. Its grand opening took place in March of 1960, and customers could purchase tires for about $14 each. There were three other Cities Service locations in the area: Franklin, Jeanerette, and Bayou Vista. Cities Service Station later became CITGO.
Guy and Amy Naquin were the owners of a café located across the street from the Cities Service Station. Initially, they started an Esso Gas Station in 1931 and later expanded into a café in 1940. The café offered curb service and sold beer, soft drinks, ice cream, hot dogs, and hamburgers. Guy Naquin, who was the Baldwin assistant fire chief and a deputy state fire marshal, held fire department meetings at the café. The Naquins sold their business to Mr. and Mrs. Earl Boudreaux in 1962.
Located next to the Cities Service Station was one of the oldest buildings in town, having been built shortly after the Civil War. Originally a dry goods and clothing store that also offered corn grinding services, it was owned by E. D. Martin. It changed hands several times over the years before Justus Leonard Boudreaux opened Leonard's Hardware in 1955. In 1965, Ferdinand J. Petitifils purchased the building and operated it as Petitfil's Hardware, with his wife, Genevieve Viguerie Petitfils, assisting with the family business. Around 1992, the store became the location of the West End Branch of the St. Mary Parish Library. The building is located at 902 Main Street.