The Gilmore Oil Company was an independent oil company in California which was founded by Arthur Fremont Gilmore after he struck oil on his dairy farm in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles around 1903. His son, Earl Bell Gilmore, took over the family business and expanded its distribution network which, at its peak, operated over three thousand gas stations on the West Coast. He promoted the company in a flamboyant style with much advertising, branding and sponsorship.
Arthur Fremont Gilmore moved to California in the 1870s and, with another farmer Julius Carter, established a dairy farm in Compton. In 1880, they acquired a 256-acre (104 ha) tract of James Thompson, who had gone bankrupt, and established another dairy farm. In 1890, Gilmore's partnership with Carter was dissolved and they drew straws to divide their farms – Gilmore got the property. He lived with his family in the adobe farmhouse there and, around 1903, drilled for water so that he could expand their dairy herd. Instead of water, he struck oil. This find was part of the substantial Salt Lake Oil Field and the farm was converted to oil production. The A. F. Gilmore Oil Co. initially sold the petroleum and tar for lubrication and paving, but Gilmore saw the potential of the automobile and started refining the crude oil into gasoline. [2]
Arthur Gilmore died in 1918 and his son, Earl Bell Gilmore, took charge. He had initially sold gasoline from a horse-drawn tanker at the corner of La Brea Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard and this became the site of the first Gilmore gasoline station. E. B. Gilmore expanded the business, establishing over three thousand more gas stations on the west coast. His methods included energetic advertising and promotion. He created the branding for Red Lion gasoline with the slogan "Roar with Gilmore" and sponsored daredevils like Roscoe Turner, who flew with Gilmore, the flying lion, and John Cobb who drove the Railton Red Lion to set a land speed record of 369.7 miles per hour (595.0 km/h). [3]
The Gilmore property was named Gilmore Island and a variety of other businesses were established there. [4] [5] [6] Gilmore Island was a county island (unincorporated Los Angeles County) for many years but was incorporated into the city of Los Angeles by 1950. [7] The Original Farmers Market at 3rd & Fairfax was established in 1934 and this still exists today as a major attraction at "3rd and Fairfax". [8] The Gilmore Stadium was established at the same time. This initially hosted midget car racing and then added boxing matches and the Los Angeles Bulldogs football team. Gilmore Field was opened as the home of the baseball team, the Hollywood Stars. Other attractions on Gilmore Island included specialty shops at The Dell, a drive-in theater and the Pan-Pacific Auditorium. [9]
In the 1940s, 75% of the shares in the oil company were acquired by the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company and it was then merged into that group which became Mobil. [10] In 2006 the A.F. Gilmore Company regained control of all of the original Gilmore art licenses and established the e-commerce website www.gilmoreoilandgas.com.
Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999.
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Fairfax Avenue is a street in the north central area of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It runs from La Cienega Boulevard in Culver City at its southern end to Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood on its northern end. From La Cienega Boulevard to Sunset Boulevard, it separates the Westside from the central part of the city along with Venice Boulevard, La Cienega Boulevard, Hauser Boulevard, San Vicente Boulevard, South Cochran Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, 6th Street, Cochran Avenue, 4th Street, La Brea Avenue, Fountain Avenue and Sunset Boulevard.
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The Fairfax District is a neighborhood in the Central region of Los Angeles, California.
Miracle Mile is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California.
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Gilmore Field was a minor league baseball park in Los Angeles, California, that served as home to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League from 1939–1957 when they, along with their intra-city rivals, the Los Angeles Angels, were displaced by the transplanted Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League.
The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, located on parts of the historic Farmers Market. The mall features Nordstrom and Barnes & Noble.
Gilmore Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Los Angeles, California. It was opened in May 1934 and demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City. The stadium held 18,000. It was located next to Gilmore Field. The stadium was located west of Curson Avenue, surrounded by Beverly Boulevard, Fairfax Avenue and Third Street. The Stadium was used in a 3 Stooges 1934 short Three Little Pigskins.
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The Salt Lake Oil Field is an oil field underneath the city of Los Angeles, California. Discovered in 1902, and developed quickly in the following years, the Salt Lake field was once the most productive in California; over 50 million barrels of oil have been extracted from it, mostly in the first part of the twentieth century, although modest drilling and extraction from the field using an urban "drilling island" resumed in 1962. As of 2009, the only operator on the field was Plains Exploration & Production (PXP). The field is also notable as being the source, by long-term seepage of crude oil to the ground surface along the 6th Street Fault, of the famous La Brea Tar Pits.
Gilmore (1930–1950) was a lion who flew with aviator Colonel Roscoe Turner to promote the Gilmore Oil Company. After he grew too large for flying, Gilmore accompanied Turner in publicity appearances for the next ten years.
Earl Bell Gilmore (1887–1964) was the son of Arthur Fremont Gilmore and took control of the family businesses, including the Gilmore Oil Company, in 1918. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1987. Gilmore was born and died in the historic Rocha Adobe. According to the Los Angeles Times, "E. B. Gilmore is credited with running one of Los Angeles' first gasoline stations...It is said that around 1910 young Gilmore would load his horsedrawn wagon with gasoline from the family refinery and then wait on the corner of Wilshire and La Brea for automobiles from the city to come by. He sold his product for 10 cents a gallon and purified it by pouring it through a chamois."
One of the must-see attractions in L.A. is the Farmers Market...