Big Ed’s Gas Farm from Twin Peaks Pilot Episode

In a Setting the Stage article, I shared a look at the exterior locations used for Big Ed’s Gas Farm. There are actually three different locations that were used in the series. This article focuses on the first location, which was featured in the Pilot Episode, Episode 1002 and Episode 2017.

The first Gas Farm was located at 8606 Preston-Fall City Rd SE in Preston, Washington. Nadine and Ed lived in an nearby home located at 31002 SE 86th St in Issaquah. The exterior of their home was only shown in the Pilot Episode, while the Big Ed’s Gas Farm exterior from the Pilot Episode was also used in Episode 1002 and Episode 2017.

According to the former InTwinPeaks.com site:

“From what I gather, the gas station that was used for Big Ed’s, located in Fall City, WA, closed not long after the show first aired in 1990. The gas pumps were taken out and the building underwent several drastic changes of business and architecture (one incarnation was a windsock store). Last I checked, which was August 2008, the building was occupied by Stone Age Rockworks, a stone and tile store.”

I visited the location during the 1996 Twin Peaks Fan Fest. At the time, the location was the windsock store mentioned by Charles from InTwinPeaks.com. For some reason, I only took two photos during that visit.

Most recently, the location was home to Indoor Garden & Lighting which was a “specialty retailer for indoor gardening supplies, including lamps, nutrients & hydroponic equipment.” The location is now closed according to internet searches.

Here is a series of side-by-side comparisons of Pilot Episode images and screen caps from either Google Maps or Bing Maps. The Google Maps images are from September 2011 while the Bing Maps images are from August 2014.

Up next is an establishing shot used in the Pilot Episode and Episode 2017.

For the nighttime shot in Episode 1002, you can see a church to the left of Big Ed’s Gas Farm.

The Raging River Community Church is located at 31104 SE 86th Street.