WELCOME | Oil Company Road Maps of Pennsylvania | WELCOME |
The first generally distributed oil
company road maps are usually credited to Gulf Oil Company of
Pittsburgh. In 1913 they opened the first
drive-in gas station
on Baum Boulevard in Pittsburgh's east end, and the next year
began handing out road maps. The early years, 1915 to 1925, are
dominated by Gulf as few other oil companies issued maps ( see
also the article
The Early Gulf Road Maps of
Pennsylvania ). An
explosion of oil company maps occurred in the 1930's with many
attractive art deco images, some created by prominent
illustrators of the day. Oil company maps disappeared in the 1970's,
although a few companies like Exxon and Mobil continued
distributing maps into the 80's. A large oil company road map
image archive with some history can be found at
/roadmaps/
. European oil company road maps can be
seen at Petrol Maps
.
The road map images are divided by decade and accessed using the links below. There is an image for almost every year from 1915 to 2000. For some folded maps, in addition to the cover image link, there is a map image link to show the cartography features. Thus, both changes in map illustration and cartography over the years can be seen. The choice of maps was based upon including as many different issuers as possible.
Oil Company Road Maps | 1910's | 1920's | 1930's | 1940's |
1950's | 1960's | 1970's | 1980's | 1990's |
Home Page | Road Maps | General Road Maps | State Road Maps | References |