MOTM: "MAP OF THE MONTH" #16 - UNION OIL CO. UNOCAL

Howdy everybody. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the oldgas gods for the chance to do this feature.I'm just hoping I can do 1/2 as good a job as Doc has done in the past.

This month we are going to feature the Union Oil Company AKA: UNOCAl. The company with that famous old 76 ball.

Here's a little history on the company.
To form Union Oil, co-founders Lyman Stewart, Thomas Bard, and Wallace Hardison merged their holdings. Although they could not then have foreseen the tremendous impact the automobile would soon have on oil demand, they were aware of oil's potential as an industrial and transportation fuel.

Stewart and Hardison met in the Pennsylvania oil fields, which boomed after the country's first oil well was drilled near Titusville in 1859. The partners built up modest oil fortunes, then sold out and moved west in the 1880's to seek greater opportunities in California.

In 1890, Stewart and Hardison combined their oil assets with those of Thomas Bard, a prominent businessman, to form the Union Oil Company of California. The company was incorporated on October 17, 1890, in the small town of Santa Paula, located about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

In 1891, Union Oil opened the first petroleum research laboratory west of the Mississippi with the initial aim of developing a process to extract non-smoking kerosene from the heavy California crudes, much less suitable to such use than the lighter, cleaner eastern oils. While the goal eluded Union Oil chemists, that rudimentary lab began a long tradition of research that served the company well.

By 1913, there were nearly 123,000 automobiles in California, prompting the company to open its first service station -- or "gas stand" -- on the corner of Sixth and Mateo streets in downtown Los Angeles. As the number of automobiles mushroomed, the company worked hard to keep pace. By 1925, Union had more than 400 service stations on the West Coast.

As the world went to war in the late 1930s, Union -- with a dynamic new leader in former steel man Reese Taylor -- beefed up production and refining to pour out fuels to support the Allies. The company's growth continued into the booming postwar era as Union expanded in all directions: discovering the first natural gas in Alaska and the first oil in Australia; taking a lead position in offshore development in the Gulf of Mexico; building a thriving chemicals business; and developing a revolutionary refining technology -- Unicracking -- that became the most widely used in the world.

Here's a few maps to get things started:

Lets see your maps everyone.

Come on guys. Lets see some Union 76 maps!!!!!

Here is a couple of maps from the 50's Richard

Couple of more the one on the left is 1968 the one on the right is 1966. Richard

[This message has been edited by gatorgaspumps (edited 03-19-2006).]

The top one is 1978 and the bottom one is 1973

[This message has been edited by gatorgaspumps (edited 03-19-2006).]

The last two are both 1972. Richard

[This message has been edited by gatorgaspumps (edited 03-19-2006).]

Here's a couple more:

Here's a 1940's harbor refining map of California:

Here's a 1920's union oil map of the west coast:

Thanks & stay tuned for more...

Here's some lion oil maps:

a circa 1946 map:

A 1938 lion:

a 1930's lion:

Nice LION & HARBOR maps, BUT what do they have to do with UNION OIL CO.?
db

My personal favorite, the Minute Man!

I have to go to my office and dig through my maps for more Union 76

HARBOR REFINING COMPANY of LONG BEACH , California was a UNION OIL subsidiary brand.

HARBOR map images for 1951 and 1969 are shown on John Cirillo's 'Gas Station Signs' website.

Text and scans were from David Aldred. link..

http://www.gassigns.org/harbor.htm

There is a HARBOR map on John Roma's 'Road Maps' website , and information about another HARBOR brand owned by CHAMPLIN. link..

http://zippy.cso.uiuc.edu/~roma/roadmaps/

There is a photo of Harbie the seal who used to guard HARBOR gas stations in LA and Orange counties up until the early 70's
on the 'Roadside Peak' website. link..

http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southwest/california/socal/socalroadside/socalroadchar/
Robert

here's a 1932 union map for the LA olympics:

A '32 California \ Arizona Map:

A 1934 Triton oil map:

Here's a 1939 Washington/oregon map:

Here's a different 1939 map:

A 1927 west coast map:

Here's a few 1950's & 60"s maps:

You'll have to forgive my experimenting. I'm trying to design banners like Doc does using Photoshop. We'll see how this looks.

a 1936 map

a 1950 map; I like this map, as Alaska didn't become an official state until 1950

a 1953 map

[This message has been edited by mapper (edited 03-27-2006).]

I'm still working on my Photoshop technique so here's some more MOTM.

HEY, POORMAN YOU'RE GETTIN' GOOD AT THAT PHOTOSHOP....LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU CAN TOUCH UP AND RESTORE PHOTOS. THAT PROGRAM TOOK MONTHS AND MONTH OF SELF TEACHING AND HOURS AND HOURS OF TRIAL AND ERROR!

GET-R-DONE!

~DOC @ TAG.WEST
HOME OF D.S.N.Y. PHOTOGRAPHY
http://community.webshots.com/album/42365545puRdzZ

A 1935ish Map of California/Nevada:

A Nelson Pringle War Map by Union oil Co.:

Looks like a late 50's Map:

A 1951 union baja map:

A 1956 oregon / Washington map

A long Beach map:

Here are some union postcards and such:

a 1926 calendar:

a 1933 decal front:

and back:

another 1926 calendar:

Althrough NOT a map, this broucher was mailed to prospective service stations in 1926, letting them know of the billboard advertising campaign.
1st picture is the center spread. 2nd shows the pump detail. BOYLE DAYTON AERO

[This message has been edited by Dick Bennett (edited 04-04-2006).]

Visit 'oldgas.com's ' July 2004 COTM UNION OIL .. moderated by djhubba.
There are still some images on the 5 site pages ,including map images, and a lot of interesting company information.
The link is ..
http://www.oldgas.com/shoptalk/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000682.html
Robert

SIGN OF THE MONTH for UNION OIL .. NOV 2004 hosted by 'troach'
can be visited through the link ..
http://www.oldgas.com/shoptalk/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000834.html

Robert

after union purchased pure a dual branded map: