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Greetings!

I'm a historical researcher looking for some info/advice. I'm researching a former Richfield service station site in Renton, WA. I've been through all the public records I can think of (tax records, assessor's photos, recorded agreements, etc) but I'm wondering if anyone here knows about other sources of information.

Specifically, I'm curious about the nature of the relationship between the people who operated the station and Richfield Oil. Did Richfield just own the station itself? Or was the agreement between the manager and Richfield as an exclusive supplier?

The property records say the land was never owned by Richfield nor are there any recorded agreements between Richfield and the property owners or the managers.

I'm stumped! Thanks in advance for any help/ideas.

Also- enjoying looking around here! Great forum!

Welcome to oldgas.com

While there were many corporate locations that owned the land the vast majority were privately owned. The property owner would then contract with the oil company for a set period just as it's done today. Curious what you're looking for? Is this a liability issue or curiosity?

I've worked in the industry for 25 years, and gas station ownership works as follows:
1. Major oil owned, salaried employee operated
2. Major Oil owned, dealer operated
3. Jobber owned, jobber employee operated (many of today's c-stores operate like this)
4. Jobber owned, dealer operated
5. Individually owned, leased to third party dealer. Contracted to oil company for supply.
6. Individually owned, operated by owner. Contracted to oil company for supply.
7. Independent gasoline marketer owned, salaried employee operated (discount chains)
8. Independent gasoline marketer owned, dealer operated.
9. Farm Co-Ops that sell gas
10. Car Dealers that sold gas
and several others seldom encountered

A jobber is a wholesaler that buys petroleum products and distributes them in a limited area. A jobber can be contracted to a major brand, or an unbranded jobber that develops their own brand and image. Most independents (from above) functioned pretty much like unbranded jobbers. Commission agents operated company owned bulk plants under contract, and wholesaled to dealers within their region.

On your particular site, it could be owned by Richfield, by a Richfield jobber, or by an individual who contracted with Richfield to supply products for a period of time. These contracts came with signs and image requirements and supplies.

Hope this helps

Wayne Henderson

Welcome to OldGas!

Here is a original pump in Richfield

Morning, in PCM magazine Walter webber says he the Richfield company historian he has a wanted add every month. Maybe he can help you , give him a call 562-547-1119. Good luck. Dan

Thanks. My client is a potential buyer of the site- they know it's contaminated but their plans won't require cleanup. However, they do want to identify the responsible parties before purchase in case the rules change after they buy.

Thanks CarolinaTraveler- this is very helpful.

Here's the Assessor's image from 1949:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-YWpt72MOK1cGlxbnZMNmFMMjQ/edit?usp=sharing