Beacon Oil

Last updated
Beacon Oil Company
Industry Oil and gas
Founded1919
Defunct1947
FateAcquired by Standard Oil of New Jersey
Headquarters Boston, Massachusetts
Key people
 James Lorin Richards
Parent Massachusetts Gas Companies (1919–1926)
Louisiana Oil Refining Company (1926–1929)
Standard Oil of New Jersey (1929–1947)
Subsidiaries Colonial Filling Stations

Beacon Oil Company (known as Colonial Beacon from 1930 to 1947) was an American oil and gas corporation headquartered in Boston.

Contents

Early years

Beacon Oil was established by the Massachusetts Gas Companies in 1919. The company entered signed a contract to purchase crude oil from the Atlantic Gulf Oil Corporation and began construction on a refinery in Everett, Massachusetts. [1] The refinery began operations in July 1920 the following year and could produce a full line of petroleum products, including gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, asphalt, lubricating oil, and wax. It had a capacity to run 15,000 barrels a day and store another 950,000 barrels. [2] In 1923 the United States Shipping Board awarded Beacon a contract to supply fuel oil at the Port of Boston. [3] Beacon co-owned the Beacon Sun Oil Company with Sun Oil Co., which owned 55 drilling concessions in Venezuela. [4]

On January 8, 1926, Louisiana Oil Refining Company acquired a controlling interest in Beacon. [5] As a result of the ownership change, Clifford M. Leonard succeeded James Lorin Richards as chairman of the board and Richard B. Kahle succeeded H. L. Wollenberg as president. [6]

Colonial Filling Stations

Former Colonial Beacon Gas Station in Stoneham, Massachusetts. StonehamMA ColonialBeaconGasStation.jpg
Former Colonial Beacon Gas Station in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
Former Colonial Beacon Gas Station in Boston. New Market Pizza and Grill (former Colonial Beacon gas station), March 2022.JPG
Former Colonial Beacon Gas Station in Boston.

Colonial Filling Stations Inc. was a subsidiary of Beacon Oil that owned gas stations throughout New England (except Vermont) and New York. In 1922, the architecture firm of Coolidge & Carlson was hired to design Colonial's prototype gas station. The prototype, known as the “Watertown”, featuring an all-white exterior, columns, balustrade, and a golden dome, was based on the design of the Massachusetts State House. 35 to 50 “Watertown” stations were built in Greater Boston. [7] In the 1930s, the company began using a lighthouse design for its gas stations in New York. [8]

In 1924, Beacon acquired Dixie Oil Company, which operated gas stations in Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts after Dixie defaulted on contractual obligations. [9] By 1925 Beacon owned 160 gas stations. [4] In 1926, Beacon entered the Rhode Island market after it acquired Narragansett Filling Stations Inc., the New York state market after it purchased the gasoline and kerosene business of Pennzoil, and the New York City market after it purchased the Craycroft Oil Company. [10] [11] [12] In 1928, Beacon purchased the gas stations of the Webaco Oil Company of Webster, New York. [13] By 1929 Beacon owned or leased 350 gas stations. [7] In 1931, Beacon acquired the Kesbec chain of 55 gas stations. [14]

Industrial accidents

On April 14, 1922, an explosion at the Everett refinery injured four and killed one. The employee who was killed, Harry Vokes, was a retired vaudeville performer known for being half of Ward and Vokes. [15] That November, 151 Everett residents filed a bill in equity with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court seeking to shut down the plant. [16] The bill was dismissed by the court. [17]

On March 10, 1925, a fire under seven of Beacon's oil tanks required the evacuation of 200 South Everett residents. [18]

On December 10, 1926, an explosion at the Beacon refinery shook buildings in Everett, Medford, and Winchester. [19]

On February 10, 1928, ten of the company's stills exploded, setting fire to over 500,000 gallons of oil. Fourteen Beacon employees were killed as a result of the explosion. [20] [21]

On July 22, 1929, two Beacon employees were injured from a flare up from a high pressure still. [22]

Acquisition by Standard Oil

On January 9, 1929, Leonard announced that Beacon would be acquired by Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. [23] On March 25, 1930, the company's name was changed to Colonial Beacon to more closely identify it with its two brands. [24] That December, president R. B. Kahle was elected vice president of Standard Oil's shipping subsidiary and was succeeded by A. Clarke Bedford. [25] From 1932 to 1933, Colonial Beacon sponsored the NBC Blue Network's Five-Star Theater , which featured the Marx Brothers' Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel . [26] In 1935, Colonial Beacon entered the oil burner business by purchasing Arthur H. Ballard Inc. [27] On December 31, 1947, Standard Oil took over the business and assets of Colonial Beacon, but continued to use the Colonial Beacon name for marketing purposes in New England and New York until the 1950s. [28] [7] The Everett refinery was closed down in 1965 as it had become unprofitable. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunoco</span> American fuel station chain

Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dating back to 1886, the company has transitioned from a vertically integrated energy company to a distributor of fuels. It was previously engaged in oil, natural gas exploration and production, refining, chemical manufacturing, and retail fuel sales, but divested these businesses. Sunoco is the largest independent distributor of fuels in the United States.

Koch Industries, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizer, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, cloud computing, finance, raw materials trading, and investments. Koch owns Flint Hills Resources, Georgia-Pacific, Guardian Industries, Infor, Invista, KBX, Koch Ag & Energy Solutions, Koch Engineered Solutions, Koch Investments Group, Koch Minerals & Trading, and Molex. The firm employs 122,000 people in 60 countries, with about half of its business in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valero Energy</span> American energy company

Valero Energy Corporation is an American-based downstream petroleum company mostly involved in manufacturing and marketing transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power. It is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Throughout the United States and Canada, the company owns and operates 15 refineries, and one in Wales, with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels (480,000 m3) per day, 11 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion US gallons (4,500,000 m3) per year, and a 50-megawatt wind farm. A Fortune 500 company, before the 2013 spinoff of CST Brands, Valero was one of the United States' largest retail operators with approximately 6,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Mexico and Peru under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Beacon, and Texaco brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tesoro Corporation</span> American energy company

Tesoro Corporation, known briefly as Andeavor, was a Fortune 100 and a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, with 2017 annual revenues of $35 billion, and over 14,000 employees worldwide. Based on 2017 revenue, the company ranked No. 90 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citgo</span> Oil company and gasoline retailer

Citgo Petroleum Corporation is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, it is majority-owned by PDVSA, a state-owned company of the Venezuelan government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Husky Energy</span> Canadian energy company

Husky Energy Inc. was a Canadian company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates in Western and Atlantic Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region, with upstream and downstream business segments. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Husky Energy was ranked as the 1443rd-largest public company in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marathon Petroleum</span> American petroleum refining, marketing, and transportation company

Marathon Petroleum Corporation is an American petroleum refining, marketing, and transportation company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil until a corporate spin-off in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillips Petroleum Company</span> American oil company, predecessor of ConocoPhillips

Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the North Sea on December 23, 1969, at a position that was later named Ekofisk.

Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel is a situation comedy radio show starring two of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and Chico, and written primarily by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman. The series was originally broadcast in the United States on the National Broadcasting Company's Blue Network, beginning on November 28, 1932, and ending on May 22, 1933. Sponsored by the Standard Oil Companies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Louisiana and the Colonial Beacon Oil Company, it was the Monday night installment of the Five-Star Theater, an old-time radio variety series that offered a different program each weeknight. Episodes were broadcast live from NBC's WJZ station in New York City and later from a sound stage at RKO Pictures in Los Angeles, California, before returning to WJZ for the final episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hess Corporation</span> American global energy company

Hess Corporation is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petroleum in 1968. Leon Hess served as CEO from the early 1960s through 1995, after which his son John B Hess succeeded him as chairman and CEO. The company has agreed to be acquired by rival oil company Chevron.

<i>Telegram & Gazette</i> Newspaper in Worcester, Massachusetts

The Telegram & Gazette is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts. The paper, headquartered at 100 Front Street and known locally as the Telegram or the T & G, offers coverage of all of Worcester County, as well as surrounding areas of the western suburbs of Boston, Western Massachusetts, and several towns in Windham County in northeastern Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultramar</span> Canadian gas station chain

Ultramar is an Eastern Canadian gas and home fuel retailer, with its head office located in Montreal, Quebec. It is the largest oil brand in Quebec and operates gas stations and home fuel delivery in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petron Corporation</span> Oil company in the Philippines

Petron Corporation is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country's oil requirements. It operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan with a rated capacity of 180,000 barrels per day (29,000 m3/d). From the refinery, Petron moves its products mainly by sea to 32 depots and terminals throughout the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Beacon Gas Station</span> United States historic place

The Colonial Beacon Gas Station was a historic gas station at 474 Main Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts. It was built c. 1922 by the Beacon Oil Company to be a flagship station in their Colonial chain of filling stations. The concrete and stucco building was designed by the Boston firm of Coolidge & Carlson. It had two main sections: an octagonal section that once served as a drive-through filling area, and a rectangular service area to its left. Corinthian columns originally supported the octagonal section; these were later covered over or replaced. The octagonal section was topped by a round dome, at whose apex was a small pillared section that was once topped by a grillwork globe that housed a light. This light, when illuminated, became the beacon which gave the station its name. The service area and pumping bay had a band of starburst panels that ran along the top of the flat roofed service area and around the base of the pumping area dome. The structure was one of about 10 Colonial Oil stations built with a golden dome to resemble the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Lorin Richards</span>

James Lorin Richards was an American financier and industrialist based in Boston, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherman L. Whipple</span> American attorney

Sherman Leland Whipple was an American attorney who was one of Boston's leading trial lawyers during his lifetime.

The Beacon Oil explosion occurred on February 10, 1928, at the company's distilling plant in Everett, Massachusetts. 14 people were killed in 36 injured in the disaster.

John C. Pappas (1906–1972) was a Greek-American jurist and businessman.

References

  1. ↑ "Beacon Oil Co. Begins Work on Refinery at Everett Will Turn Out Petroleum Products". The Wall Street Journal. August 7, 1919.
  2. ↑ "Beacon Oil Refinery". The Wall Street Journal. July 17, 1920.
  3. ↑ "Beacon Co to Furnish Ship Board Oil Here". The Boston Daily Globe. October 22, 1923.
  4. 1 2 "Beacon Oil Stock Sold". The New York Times. January 15, 1926.
  5. ↑ "Beacon Oil Control Sold". The Wall Street Journal. January 8, 1926.
  6. ↑ "Changes Effected in Directorate of Beacon Oil Co.-- Wollenberg Resigns". The Wall Street Journal. January 30, 1926.
  7. 1 2 3 Jakle, John A.; Sculle, Keith A. (1994). The Gas Station in America. JHU Press. pp. 159–160. ISBN   9780801869198 . Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Nehrich, John (May 13, 2020). "Beacon Oil: New York's Lighthouse Gas Stations". New York Almanack. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Beacon Oil Gets Property". Wall Street Journal. July 25, 1924.
  10. ↑ "Beacon Oil Co Buys R. I. Filling Stations". The Boston Daily Globe. June 15, 1926.
  11. ↑ "Beacon Oil Co Buys Pennzoil Gasoline". The Boston Daily Globe. September 30, 1926.
  12. ↑ "Beacon Oil Co Expands Once More". The Boston Daily Globe. December 3, 1926.
  13. ↑ "Beacon Oil Co Buys "Gas" Filling Stations". The Boston Daily Globe. January 1, 1929.
  14. ↑ "Kesbec Stations Acquired by S.O.N.J". The Wall Street Journal. December 11, 1931.
  15. ↑ "Ask Investigation of Beacon Oil Plant". The Boston Daily Globe. April 16, 1922.
  16. ↑ "Seek to Close Beacon Oil Plant". The Boston Daily Globe. November 3, 1922.
  17. ↑ "Refuses to Enjoin Beacon Oil Company". The Boston Daily Globe. February 28, 1925.
  18. ↑ "Huge Oil Tanks in Peril Fire Drives Out 200". The Boston Daily Globe. March 10, 1925.
  19. ↑ "Three Cities Shaken by Beacon Oil Blast". The Boston Daily Globe. December 10, 1926.
  20. ↑ "Oil Stills Explode, Ten Killed, 40 Hurt". The New York Times. February 11, 1928.
  21. ↑ "Beacon Oil Explosion Deaths Now Total 14". The Boston Daily Globe. February 22, 1928.
  22. ↑ "Two Beacon Oil Men Injured by Flareup". The Boston Daily Globe. July 23, 1929.
  23. ↑ "New Jersey Standard Oil to Buy Beacon Oil Co". The Boston Daily Globe. January 10, 1929.
  24. ↑ "Beacon Oil Now Colonial Beacon". The New York Times. March 26, 1930.
  25. ↑ "Bedford Heads Beacon Oil". The New York Times. December 18, 1930.
  26. ↑ Barson, Michael, ed. (1988). Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel: The Marx Brothers' Lost Radio Show. Pantheon Books. ISBN   0-679-72036-7.
  27. ↑ "Colonial Beacon Oil Buys Arthur H. Ballard, Inc". The Boston Daily Globe. September 29, 1935.
  28. ↑ "Jersey Standard Takes Over Colonial Beacon Oil Co". The Wall Street Journal. December 31, 1947.
  29. ↑ Jarvis, Judy (April 13, 1975). "The Economy: Plans, plans, plans... but no refinery". The Boston Globe.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.