American Service Stations: 1935 Through 1943 Photo Archive

Want more gas station history? According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, Automobile Gasoline Co., a subsidiary of Shell of California, opened the first filling station in St. Louis, Missouri in 1905. Missouri, opens what some people consider to be the first U.S. filling station. Others suggest that the first gas station was opened by Socal in Seattle, Washington, in 1907.. At these early stations, shopkeepers fill a five-gallon can from behind the store and bring it to the customer’s car to fill it. In 1910, Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Co. (now Gilbarco Veeder-Root) manufactures its first gas pump, using a pull-push motion to draw gas from an underground storage tank. In 1913, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gulf Refining Co. opens the nation’s first drive-up service station, specifically designed to sell fuels and other related products. On its first day, it sells 30 gallons of gasoline at 27 cents per gallon, which equates to $6.39 per gallon in today’s dollars. This is also the first architect-designed station and the first to distribute free road maps. In 1924, the first gas credit cards are issued.

In 1927, the Southland Ice Company introduces the concept of the convenience store in Dallas, Texas. “Uncle Johnny” Jefferson Green, who ran the Southland Ice Dock in the Oak Cliff part of town, realized that customers sometimes needed to buy things such as bread, milk and eggs after the local grocery stores were closed. Unlike the local grocery stores, his store was already open 16 hours a day (7:00 am to 11:00 pm), seven days a week, so he decided to stock a few of those staples in addition to items he was already offering. As the company grows, it changes its store name to reflect its operating hours: 7-Eleven. CREDIT: NACS, History of Fuel Retailing.