Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion First Gas Station?

...I always thought that the Gulf Refining Company built the first...well, I suppose most of you know the history of the gas station, as it appears in just about all of the oil company/gas station history books, but THIS I had not heard before...I have written Neville Chemical Company to see what kind of documentation they might have...the following is from the web; the web address follows the quote...

"In 1908, Harvey N. Dauler was employed by Gulf Oil Corporation, selling oil and gasoline to garages and repair shops. When he suggested that Gulf establish curbside stations to sell gasoline directly to motorists, his idea was rejected. Dauler resigned and opened what is generally accepted to be the world's first service station on Bigelow Boulevard in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Five years later, Dauler sold his gas station to none other than Gulf Oil."
http://www.nevchem.com/index.asp?pid=01_02

...anyone know about this?? I wonder if there are records in Pittsburgh that record WHO built the building originally...?

[This message has been edited by gulfiend! (edited 03-28-2006).]

Interesting reading. If you do find out info I'm sure we all be interested. I for one would like to see a photo of the station if you dig one up. Good luck on your quest.

Check this out. There seems to be a split about who started the first "Service Station".
http://www.oldgas.com/shoptalk/ubb/Forum4/HTML/001159.html

As far as the Gulf Station, I heard that the location is now a freeway off ramp....

Good topic... lets hear from the rest of the gang.....

...Thunder II, you are right...I had read about the earlier efforts of the John McLean in Seattle...I guess I should have qualified my statement the way Gulf has for over 50 years; that the first off-street, designed-and-built-for-that-purpose gas station was Gulf's station in Pittsburgh...

...nothing yet from Neville Chemical...but I'm hopeful...anyone else know anything about this??

I've heard it both ways. Actually, the History Channel said that it was Gulf that built the first "Gas Station"

BTW... Call me Thunder.....