The oldest gas station in America still in operation, Reighard’s here in this Blair County city, got its start in 1908 when a local blacksmith decided to sell gasoline out the back of his shop when the Model T was introduced.
It has been open ever since. While architecturally it is underwhelming, the service is good because the people who work there care about the work they do, whether it is pumping gas, washing your windshield, or doing minor fixes on your car. It is important to them that you return.
While Reighard’s holds the title of the oldest gas station in the country, it was another Altoona family that put a different kind of gas station excellence on the map. The Sheetz family story is one of struggles. This family-friendly service station struggled with a salmonella breakout in 2004, but it retained a deeply local customer base and expanded well beyond its western Pennsylvania roots.
Ask any traveler in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina and they’ll tell you when they see the cheery red and yellow stations along their drives, Sheetz means quality and comfort to their loyal customers.
One very loyal and vocal customer is Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the Braddock Democrat who often posts on X his preference for Sheetz over Wawa, the other mega service station based in the state, with cheeky posts such as “Sheetz > Wawa.”
With so much loyalty among residents in the state, it made sense for President Joe Biden to do a photo op at a Sheetz in suburban Pittsburgh last week after his visit with local steelworkers. He wanted to demonstrate that he is no different than any other Pennsylvanian in his affection for the family-owned business.
Biden even went so far as to pick up sandwiches for construction workers after pulling the presidential motorcade into the Sheetz gas station in Moon Township. Wearing his aviator glasses, he posed for a selfie with an employee.
Read the full column in THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER.
