Editing Filling station (section)

===United States===
The increase in automobile ownership after [[Henry Ford]] started to sell [[Ford Model T|automobiles that the middle class could afford]] resulted in an increased demand for filling stations. The world's first purpose-built gas station was constructed in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], in 1905 at 420 South Theresa Avenue. The second station was constructed in 1907 by [[Standard Oil of California]] (now [[Chevron Corporation|Chevron]]) in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], at what is now Pier 32. Reighard's Gas Station in [[Altoona, Pennsylvania|Altoona]], [[Pennsylvania]] claims that it dates from 1909 and is the oldest existing filling station in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pennsylvania-mountains-of-attractions.com/oldest-gasoline-station.html|title=America's Oldest Gasoline Station|access-date=10 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605194309/http://www.pennsylvania-mountains-of-attractions.com/oldest-gasoline-station.html|archive-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>  Early on, they were known to motorists as "filling stations" and often washed vehicle windows for free.

The [[Whitehill-Gleason Motors|first "drive-in"]] filling station, [[Gulf Refining Company]], opened to the motoring public in [[Pittsburgh]] on December 1, 1913, at Baum Boulevard and St Clair's Street.<ref>[http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=364 First Drive-In Filling Station] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215050139/http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=364 |date=2010-12-15 }}, ExplorePAhistory.com</ref> Prior to this, automobile drivers pulled into almost any general or hardware store, or even blacksmith shops in order to fill up their tanks. On its first day, the station sold {{convert|30|USgal|L}} of gasoline at 27 cents per gallon (7 cents per litre). This was also the first architect-designed station and the first to distribute free road maps.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nacsonline.com/YourBusiness/FuelsReports/GasPrices_2011/Pages/100PlusYearsGasolineRetailing.aspx|title=The History of Gasoline Retailing - NACS Online – Your Business – NACS Retail Fuels Reports – 2011 NACS Retail Fuels Report|access-date=10 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611163521/http://www.nacsonline.com/YourBusiness/FuelsReports/GasPrices_2011/Pages/100PlusYearsGasolineRetailing.aspx|archive-date=11 June 2015}}</ref> The first alternative fuel station was opened in [[San Diego]], [[California]], by [[Pearson Fuels]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://domesticfuel.com/2008/08/06/e85-station-opens-in-concord-california/|title=E85 Station Opens in Concord, California|work=Energy|access-date=10 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128210318/http://domesticfuel.com/2008/08/06/e85-station-opens-in-concord-california/|archive-date=28 November 2014|date=2008-08-06}}</ref>

[[Maryland]] officials said that on September 26, 2019, RS Automotive in [[Takoma Park, Maryland|Takoma Park]], [[Maryland]] became the first filling station in the country to convert to an [[EV charging station]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.journalnow.com/news/trending/maryland-service-station-just-became-the-nation-s-first-to/article_305d1d50-ce0f-5337-aaf2-edf9957170d2.html|title=Maryland service station just became the nation's first to ditch gasoline for electric energy|last=Holley|first=Peter|work=[[Winston-Salem Journal]]|via=[[The Washington Post]]|date=2019-09-29|access-date=2019-09-29}}</ref>