Pacifica Historical Society Presents "Lost Gas Stations of San Mateo County" Lecture

Lecture and Book Signing

The years following the 1906 earthquake saw a migration from the City of San Francisco to the suburbs, farms and orchards of San Mateo County. Mobility on  the peninsula came in the form of streetcars and trains but was soon dominated by the automobile.

Beginning in the teens and 1920s the  Peninsula was inundated  with automobile service stations, or gas stations, where smartly-dressed attendants practically ran to one’s car to fill the tank, check  oil and tire pressures, and clean the windshield.

The small coast-side towns that eventually became the City of Pacifica were no different. Numerous service  stations were built along what had been the Oceanshore Railway (later Highway 1) to provide gasoline, repairs, and friendly service to motorists.

It is estimated that as many as 15 gas stations existed in Pacifica before the freeway was built in the 1960s.

Authors Bruce Cumming and Nick Veronico have sought to capture the bygone era of service station businesses on the peninsula through a series of  historic gas stations’ photographs, stretching from Daly City to East Palo Alto and every city in between.