Beacon Oil Company (known as Colonial Beacon from 1930 to 1947) was an American

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...

corporation headquartered in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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 Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Everett was the last city in the Un ...

. 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. In 1923 the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

awarded Beacon a contract to supply fuel oil at the

Port of Boston The Port of Boston ( AMS Seaport Code: 0401, UN/LOCODE: US BOS) is a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston. It is the largest port in Massachusetts and one of the principal ports on the East Coast of the United ...

. Beacon co-owned the Beacon Sun Oil Company with Sun Oil Co., which owned 55 drilling concessions in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. On January 8, 1926, Louisiana Oil Refining Company acquired controlling interest Beacon. As a result of the ownership change, Clifford M. Leonard succeeded

James Lorin Richards James Lorin Richards (January 8, 1858 – January 2, 1955) was an American financier and industrialist based in Boston, Massachusetts. Early life Richards was born on a farm in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, the son of Rodolphus Palford and Sara ...

as chairman of the board and Richard B. Kahle succeeded H. L. Wollenberg as president.

Colonial Filling Stations

Colonial Filling Stations Inc. was a subsidiary of Beacon Oil that owned gas stations throughout

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

(except

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

) and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. 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 The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...

. 35 to 50 “Watertown” stations were built in

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...

. In the 1930s, the company began using a lighthouse design for its gas stations in New York. In 1924, Beacon acquired Dixie Oil Company, which operated gas stations in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

after Dixie defaulted on contractual obligations. By 1925 Beacon owned 160 gas stations. 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 Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...

, and the

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market after it purchased the Craycroft Oil Company. In 1928, Beacon purchased the gas stations of the Webaco Oil Company of

Webster, New York Webster is a town in the northeastern corner of Monroe County, New York, United States. The town is named after orator and statesman Daniel Webster. The population was 42,641 at the 2010 census. The town's motto is "Where Life Is Worth Living." ...

. By 1929 Beacon owned or leased 350 gas stations. In 1931, Beacon acquired the Kesbec chain of 55 gas stations.

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. That November, 151 Everett residents filed a

bill in equity Equity is a particular body of law that was developed in the English Court of Chancery. Its general purpose is to provide a remedy for situations where the law is not flexible enough for the usual court system to deliver a fair resolution to a cas ...

with the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

seeking to shut down the plant. The bill was dismissed by the court. On March 10, 1925, a fire under seven of Beacon's oil tanks required the evacuation of 200 South Everett residents. On December 10, 1926, an explosion at the Beacon refinery shook buildings in Everett, Medford, and

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

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

Acquisition by Standard Oil

On January 9, 1929, Leonard announced that Beacon would be acquired by

Standard Oil Company of New Jersey ExxonMobil, an American multinational oil and gas corporation presently based out of Texas, has had one of the longest histories of any company in its industry. A direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the company traces its roo ...

. On March 25, 1930, the company's name was changed to Colonial Beacon to more closely identify it with its two brands. That December, president R. B. Kahle was elected vice president of Standard Oil's shipping subsidiary and was succeeded by A. Clarke Bedford. From 1932 to 1933, Colonial Beacon sponsored the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

's ''

Five-Star Theater ''Five-Star Theater'' (also written as ''5-Star Theater'') is an American radio series that premiered on Monday, November 28, 1932, on NBC's Blue Network, sponsored by the Standard Oil Companies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Louisiana and the ...

'', which featured the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

' ''

Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel ''Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel'' is a situation comedy radio show starring two of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and his older brother Chico Marx, and written primarily by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman. The series was originally broadcast in the ...

''. In 1935, Colonial Beacon entered the oil burner business by purchasing Arthur H. Ballard Inc. 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. The Everett refinery was closed down in 1965 as it had become unprofitable.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beacon Oil 1919 establishments in Massachusetts 1947 disestablishments in Massachusetts Automotive fuel retailers Companies based in Boston Companies formerly listed on NYSE American Defunct oil companies of the United States Energy companies established in 1919 Energy companies disestablished in 1947 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1919 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1947 Former ExxonMobil subsidiaries