Kyso (officially the Standard Oil Company of Kentucky) was an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

company, gasoline distributor, and direct descendant of Standard Oil that operated in the southeastern United States from 1886 until it was acquired by Standard Oil of California (today known as

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...

) in 1961.Thompson, Eric V
A Brief History Of Major Oil Companies In The Gulf Region
Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies Program, Retrieved 2019-09-27 After the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911, the company was awarded rights to run the oil operation of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

History

Formation and early years

The Standard Oil Company of Kentucky was incorporated on October 8, 1886 under Kentucky laws.Standard Oil Company – 1928
Scripophily.com, 1996–2006. Retrieved November 22, 2006. It was founded as a division of the

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

to handle the assets of the Chess, Carley & Company, which Standard had acquired to handle product marketing and distribution for the southeastern U.S. It maintained corporate offices in all of the states it serviced, and also owned an oil refinery in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, with a 500,000 barrel/year capacity. In 1892, it acquired the properties of Consolidated Tank Line Company.

Breakup of Standard Oil

When the

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

was broken up as an illegal trust in the US Supreme Court case '' Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States'' in 1911, Kyso was spun off to market to the states of

, and

. As was common at the time, though no longer controlled by a single entity, the various "Baby Standards" still continued to cooperate. For example, Kyso was supplied by fellow "Baby Standard"

Standard Oil 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 root ...

, better known as Esso. The company avoided the consolidation prevalent in the industry throughout the first half of the century, and continued to sell various Esso and

Mobil Oil 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. ...

products. In 1930, it acquired the assets of Reed Oil Corp. of

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

.Standard Oil Company – 1928
Scripophily.com, 1996–2006. Retrieved November 22, 2006 The Riverside Refinery, built by Kyso circa 1918 in West Louisville, Kentucky, is still the source of considerable study due to environmental concerns

Harland Sanders Colonel Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand ...

, founder of

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

, started his first restaurant, the Sanders Court and Cafe, as part of a Standard Oil station in

Corbin, Kentucky Corbin is a home rule in the United States, home rule-class list of Kentucky cities, city in Whitley County, Kentucky, Whitley, Knox County, Kentucky, Knox and Laurel County, Kentucky, Laurel counties in the southeastern portion of the U.S. stat ...

, in 1930.

Acquisition by Chevron

In 1961, it was acquired by Standard Oil of California, effectively pushing Esso out of the former Kyso territory. Esso began marketing itself across the region as the "official" Standard brand oil. In 1966, Chevron sued over the use of Standard, and won, forcing Esso to rebrand itself as Enco over the former Kyso territory. During and after the merger, Kyso constructed the Pascagoula Refinery in

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...

, which began operations in 1963, and continues to operate today. In 1971, Chevron changed over all of the former Kyso stations to the Chevron logo while retaining the Standard brand name. It still maintains some Standard-branded stations in all of its former territories, including the former Kyso states, in order to protect its use of the brand in those areas. Following the acquisition by Chevron, the "Kyso" name fell out of use. In 2010, Chevron discontinued its retailing operations in Kentucky, leaving ownership of the Standard trademark in Kentucky in limbo. Ironically, in 2016

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

(the former Standard Oil of New Jersey, which had merged with Mobil in 1999 and still has stations in Kentucky to this day) was allowed to resume using the Esso trademark nationwide and thusly the Esso logo returned to minor station signage at all

Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

and Mobil stations, effectively giving ExxonMobil

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

rights to the Standard name in Kentucky, though they are still owned by Chevron. Neither Chevron nor BP (which acquired Standard Oil of Ohio and

Amoco Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a ...

and thusly gained Standard trademarks) objected to the ruling. Though now a defunct brand, Kyso

road map A road map, route map, or street map is a map that primarily displays roads and transport links rather than natural geographical information. It is a type of navigational map that commonly includes political boundaries and labels, making it a ...

s published during the company's prominence in the 1930s and 1940s, are highly sought after by map collectors."When Maps Reflected the Romance of the Road"
''The New York Times'', November 12, 2006. Retrieved November 22, 2006 ''note:subscription required''.

Bibliography

1904 book by Ida M. Tarbell on PageTutor.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standard Oil Of Kentucky Standard Oil Defunct oil companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Kentucky Energy companies established in 1886 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1886 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1960 1886 establishments in Kentucky 1960 disestablishments in Kentucky Chevron Corporation