Reader Barbara K. sent in a tip yesterday about a piece of history that's emerged at a Divisadero construction site. "Cool gas sign or poster exposed on the Hayes Street side of Harding Theater during demolition," she wrote.

The Harding Theater is currently being renovated to become Emporium, an arcade bard, and a seven-unit condo building is on the way to a neighboring empty lot on Hayes. Much of the work on the old theater is contained inside the building, but last week, construction crews began removing a large, out-of-date machine room on the Hayes Street side of the building, thereby exposing the above sign. 

Mohawk Gasoline was a common brand in the early 1900s, with a gas station bearing that name on Irving and 16th. We dug around in the archives, but were unable to track down evidence that the lot was once a gas station. If anyone has any knowledge about Mohawk or the empty lot on Hayes, let us know in the comments.