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Imagine going down the road to your local blacksmiths to buy a five-gallon can of gasoline. 
Since 1905, American motorists had been pumping their own gas at filling stations. Before that, motorists bought gasoline in five-gallon cans from hardware stores, general stores, pharmacies, and blacksmiths. These businesses had pre-existing relationships with the refineries through their sale of kerosene, used for stoves and as lighting fuel. If you wanted to take a car on a longer trip, you had to pack your own gasoline. 
Drive-in gas stations – the kind we know and love today - weren’t just about fueling up — they helped create the American driving culture we all love too much today. 
According to the 1994 book “The Gas station in America” by John Jakle and Keith Sculle, “Where and when the first gas station appeared is difficult to establish since various types of “stations appeared on the American scene between 1905 and 1913.” Let’s look at a quick timeline:
    1905 – The first dedicated “gas station” is established in St. Louis, Missouri at 420 Soth Theresa Ave.
    1907 – The first service station is installed by Standard Oil of California (now Chevron) in Seattle, Washington (now Pier 32).
    1909 – The oldest existing gas station opens in the U.S.  – it's called Reighard’s Gas Station in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
    1913 – The Gulf Refining Company opened the world’s first drive-in gas station.
Before the advent of the service stations over a century ago, fueling up was... an adventure. Bertha Benz refilled the tank of the first automobile driven across country at the city pharmacy in Wieslock, Germany, on August 5th, 1888. She was driving the newly contracted Patent Motorwagen automobile from Mannhei to Pforzheim with her 13- and 15-year-old sons to prove to her husband Karl Benz that his invention, the practical modern automobile, was marketable. 
On December 1st, 1913, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the first drive-in service station opened at the corner of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street, starting a cultural institution that we all take for granted today. Due to fire danger, as well as both health and environmental mishaps, the public became concerned, and regulators forced the sale of gasoline at dedicated retail facilities outside of city centers. This created a whole new type of business called filling stations. Both the filling station and the gas pump would eventually evolve into what we now know as the modern gas station. 
Filling Stations typically offered one of three types of service to their customers: full, minimum or self-service.
    Full service: an attendant operates the pumps, often wipes the windshield, and sometimes checks the vehicle's oil level and tire pressure, then collects payment and perhaps a small tip.
    Minimum service: an attendant operates the pumps; this is often required due to legislation that prohibits customers from operating the pumps.
    Self-service: the customer performs all the required services. Signs informing the customer of filling procedures and cautions are displayed on each pump. Customers can still enter a store or go to a booth to give payment to a person.
In 1913, Gulf Refining Company opened the world’s first drive-in gas station. An architect purposefully designed the pagoda-style brick facility that offered free air, water, crankcase service, tire and tube installation, and free road maps to motorists. On its first day, the station sold 30 gallons of gasoline at 27 cents per gallon. On its first Saturday, Gulf’s new service station pumped 350 gallons of gasoline. 
As more Americans bought cars and traveled on the road, more service stations popped up across the country. By 1929, there were more than 143,000 stations across the U.S. and major oil companies owned most of them. These companies sold their branded fuel at company-owned stations and distributed it to other vendors who could then sell it unbranded. 
Only New Jersey and Oregon hold out against the self–service station. To fill up in either state, you must have an attendant working the pump. These statues were enacted in 1949 and 1951, respectively. Oregon voters rejected a measure to overturn the self-service ban in 1982, though in recent years younger generations of Oregonians are more likely to support self-service pumps.
Gas stations helped shape the American road, which has of course led us to so many additional innovations. Many filling stations have integrated convenience stores, which sell food, beverages, tobacco products, lottery tickets, beer, wine, liquor, motor oil, and sometimes even auto parts (depending on the location). Many stations within the U.S. have fast-food outlets inside. These are usually “express” versions with limited seating and limited menu options. However, larger restaurants are common at truck stops and toll road service plazas. 
Filling stations have helped shape the American road, and it’s a good thing they did. The next time you’re on a road trip, imagine what it would be like if you had to pack a bunch of gas cans for the journey!