Comments on: First (Second) Gas Station In The World

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:48:39 +0000

And the plaque looked like this until it was recently spray-painted orange.

http://www.jetcityorange.com/Seattle/Worlds-First-Gas-Station.html

Thanks to SeattleGreg for providing info that allowed me to find the plaque today…it sits on a tall cement block alongside the road just south of the Port of Seattle Police Station.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:44:14 +0000

This photo from UW Digital Collections shows the site around 1905–

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/curtis&CISOPTR=196&CISOBOX=1&REC=4

The filling can would have been on the dock in the front left, as corroborated by this 1905 Sanborn map of the area (I’ve added color updates to assist in finding the location).

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/fDjFCFh7JE_age8hkz4ehQ?authkey=Gv1sRgCK761Z-PhYCnag&feat=directlink

By: Ben Lukoff

Ben Lukoff — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:37:24 +0000

You could always upload the photo to Flickr and post its URL.
So I guess it is “Holgate & Whatcom,” after all.

By: Seattle Greg

Seattle Greg — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:31:22 +0000

If you are along the waterfront at Terminal 30, last year when it was still a “cruise ship” pier there were 5 entry gates. Between Gates 3 and 4 found the Plaque refered to in the History Link article honoring the “world’s first gas station”

It reads, ” Site of the
WORLD”S FIRST SERVICE STATION

Here in the spring of 1907 an odd but
Ingenious contraption was erected by
the late John McLean of Standard Oil
Company of California for the unprecedented
Function of dispensing gasoline and oil
Directly to the motorist

From this significant pioneer effort came
one of the greatest conveniences to the
public - The Service Station

Erected by
STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA
June 5, 1947″

I would post the photo but am not sure how…

it is rather impresively embedded in concrete….

By: Ben Lukoff

Ben Lukoff — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:11:13 +0000

Here’s a story about when the Eastlake & Hamlin station closed. Dated 1993.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930329&slug=1693039

Here’s a blog post from earlier this year about the last station still to be branded Standard in the state of Washington. I have heard about this place, but never seen it, and was afraid it had finally become a Chevron, but it looks like it was still there as of February.
http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/a-not-so-standard-chevron-station/)

By: Ben Lukoff

Ben Lukoff — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:08:40 +0000

Hmm! Perhaps “Western” is actually “Whatcom,” which is apparently the old name of E. Marginal Way. And there’s the Standard Oil dock right there. Map: http://bit.ly/1AhS1j

By: Ben Lukoff

Ben Lukoff — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:16:24 +0000

Holgate and Western, eh? The two do not cross in 2009. Would what was then Western now be Utah Avenue S., Colorado Avenue S., or E. Marginal Way S.?

By: Pete Blecha

Pete Blecha — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:47:42 +0000

Of course I could have considered checking HistoryLink.org before responding!

David Wilma wrote about this topic there:

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2093

By: Pete Blecha

Pete Blecha — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:43:36 +0000

Over recent decades several local publications have referred to the now-gone gas station at, I believe, the SW corner of Eastlake Avenue E. and E. Hamlin Street, as Seattle’s — and America’s — first “full service” gas station. Seems it was razed in the 1980s or so…

By: Colin

Colin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:14:52 +0000

So life-like!