United Oil In Retrospect Looking Back

Abstract

The flag went up at 1429 Walnut Street in December 1908 when United delivered its first order - a drum of lubricating oil to the Bay City Forge. G.J. Gebhardt of coal and coke fame built the plant for compounding lubricating oils at a cost of $26,000.00. This new venture was suggested by the success of his neighbor Julius Siegel who operated the Erie Oil Company one block away on Myrtle Street. Counting the cars Julius unloaded in a year and comparing them with the number of coal cars unloaded on Chestnut Street did the trick. It proved that oil could provide a bigger return on each dollar invested than handling coal.