Author: argentum@verizon.net

04Feb

$Col-Tex Gasoline’s Roots in Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation$

Col-Tex Gasoline’s Roots in Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation

In 1924, L. H. Pritchard and J. Steven Anderson opened the West Texas Refinery Company just west of Colorado City, Texas, to process Mitchell County Oil. When the two oil industry pioneers started up this project in Texas, their work formed the roots of what soon came to be an iconic brand of gasoline in the early part of the 20th Century.

$Col-Tex Challenge Gasoline Brand$

Col-Tex Challenge Gasoline

Ownership soon changed to Standard Oil of California, which renamed the company “Col-Tex Refining”. From the 1930s to 1950s, the refinery operated at a full capacity of 12,000 barrels a day. The company was a major part of Colorado City life; it employed many local workers and residents timed their activities by the refinery whistle.

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03Feb

Anderson-Prichard Oil Corp. at the Chicago Auto Show, 1950

In February of 1950, the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation had a booth in the exhibit hall of the Chicago Automobile Show (now known as the Chicago Auto Show), billing themselves as oil producers and refiners.

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30Dec

Wood Oil Company – APCO Station Painting by Michael Young

One of the finest depictions of a classic old Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation brand gas station is the one created by painter Michael Young. His “Wood Oil Company” is a beautiful painting of a gleaming white, full-service filling station, circa 1950s, with the attendant checking the oil for a classic convertible.

Other classic cars and a pickup truck surround the station, including even a hotrod, with flames painted on its hood and door.

The painting is bright, with colors reflecting off of the pavement, as though there had just been a rain, or the attendant had just washed it off, giving it a mirrored surface.

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20Dec

Mrs. Lev H. Prichard in the News

Here is a photograph from the archives of the Oklahoma Historical Society of Louise M. Prichard, the wife of Lev H. Prichard, Sr., following a music program held at the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City in 1956.

From the entry in the online repository, The Gateway to Oklahoma History:

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25Nov

Styles of Anderson-Prichard Gasoline Pumps

We came across these old vintage photos of a few Anderson-Prichard gas station pumps, which harken back to the golden age of cars in America.

In the photo, the earliest pump, on the left side, has its pumping apparatus clearly exposed.

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26Oct

The Birth of the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation

Architect's Drawing of Colcord Building - Early Anderson-Prichard Oil Company Headquarters Offices, Oklahoma City, Circa 1919 — Architect’s Drawing of Colcord Building – Early Anderson-Prichard Oil Company Headquarters Offices, Oklahoma City, Circa 1919

Lev H. Prichard and J. Steve Anderson met in Oklahoma City through their separate involvement in the state’s burgeoning oil industry, and in 1919, they formed a partnership in the oil business.

Prichard had already been involved in brokering oil deals, first in his capacity as a young lawyer. He had worked earlier with Mr. Ramsey, who was big in business in the area (and for whom the “Ramsey Tower” was named, which later became known as the “APCO Tower”).

Prichard and Anderson formalized their business venture in 1920, and it was incorporated in Delaware under the name “Anderson-Prichard & Co., a.k.a. “AP&C”. While it was incorporated in Delaware, which conveyed legal advantages to the organization, the company’s principal offices were located in the Colcord Building in Oklahoma City. (more…)

23Oct

The Colcord Building

While the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation was founded as a Delaware corporation, Lev H. Prichard and J. Steve Anderson set up the company headquarters in the grand Colcord Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma back in 1919.

The building was finished in 1909 and is considered to be Oklahoma City’s very first skyscraper. It is 145 feet (44 m) tall and currently has 14 floors (when it was completed in 1910, it only had 12 foors).

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25Sep

Welcome to the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation Retrospective

Welcome to the Anderson-Prichard Oil Company website!

This website provides a retrospective look into the history of an august company that existed in Oklahoma City from 1919 to 1960, and operated gas stations across multiple states in the central U.S., as well as oil exploration, oil drilling, and crude refinery operations.

The company grew from a partnership between Lev H. Prichard and J. Steve Anderson. These entrepreneurs and philanthropists quickly identified the business opportunities in Oklahoma and the fast-evolving oil industry, and they got involved in it.

J. Steve Anderson, and Lev H. Prichard, Company Co-Founders

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