A fairly large museum, the Fort St. John North Peace Museum can keep one occupied for several hours. Wander about the grounds visiting historic buildings moved onsite and a plethora of machinery related to the oil and agricultural industries. One item impossible to miss is a 136 foot tall oil derrick which last worked 143 miles up the Alaska Highway.
Inside the main building are exhibits which deal with all aspects of the Fort St. John area, from the local geology to the local Native peoples to the founding of the first settlement to oil and agriculture. There's essentially no aspect of the area which is overlooked. Also offered by the museum are Educational Programs, Guided Tours, Scavenger Hunts, and Pre and Post Visit Activities.
In the centre of it all one will spy a pristine 1923 Dodge Brothers Roadster, beside which stands this Gilbert & Barker Model 50, Type T-2176 Self Measuring Pump, bearing serial number 139660. It's branded as a
Phillips 66 gas pump, of the
Phillips Petroleum Company. Of 10 U.S. gallon capacity, this example is an early "visible" type, the design intended to allow the customer to see exactly how much gasoline he was receiving.
The Gilbert & Barker Self Measuring Pump was manufactured in Springfield, MA, with the model being introduced in 1911 and continuing in production, through various models, until about 1929, when the company name was changed to Gilbarco. They use a manually operated pump at the bottom of the unit to pump the gasoline. Don't know if the style continued throughout the production run, but this one is a visible gas pump.
With its beginnings in 1865, Gilbert & Barker must be the oldest gas pump manufacturer extant. Now known as Gilbarco Veeder-Root , the company began with the manufacture of the "Springfield Gas Machine" which converted crude petroleum distillates into a gas vapor used to light buildings. Then owned by Standard Oil Company, they built their first gas pump in 1910, the T-1, which used a push-pull motion on a long handle to draw gasoline from an underground tank. In 1911 they introduced their first measuring gasoline pump and their first first electric metering pump in 1930. In 1935 they introduced the first computing pump and registered the "Gilbarco" trade name. It wasn't until 1965 that they officially changed the corporate name to Gilbarco. In the following years the company introduced a myriad of innovations to the service station and refuelling industry, continuing in this vein today.