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Bagwell Oil Company was founded in 1915 by I. W. Bagwell as a petroleum products distributor of motor fuels and heating fuels. Product supply was brought in by rail in tank cars to a storage plant located in Tasley.

Fuels were initially marketed under various private brands such as BACO and DEL-MAR-VA, as shown below in the pictures of the two delivery trucks. Note the buckets. These trucks had no pumps; the buckets were filled from a spigot and carried to the customer's tank and poured in by the driver.

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Click The visible pumps shown here in 1927 were at the Onancock Motor Company (now House of Deals) on Market Street in Onancock. In the background is Taylor's Inn (demolished in 1969)

In the late 1920's, the Company briefly marketed Sinclair products before beginning an affiliation with Atlantic Refining Company which lasted through WWII.

The gas station located at the corner of Market and Hill Streets in Onancock, shown in the photo taken in 1931, sold Atlantic gasoline. The Onancock Corner Mart is now on this site.

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In 1947 The Pure Oil Company became our primary supplier of products and remained as such until their acquisition by Union Oil Company in 1962, after which we marketed under the 76 flag.

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This 1500 gallon capacity delivery truck was photographed in 1947 on the site of our present home office.The Onancock Post Office is in the background.

In 1956 a small marine terminal was built in Onancock and supply was brought in by small tankers and barges. This terminal was expanded in 1962. This photo shows a barge unloading heating oil in January 1978. The Coast Guard had cleared a channel through the ice.

    MILESTONES
  • In the 1960's, Bagwell Oil Company introduced the first self-service gasoline to the Eastern Shore.
  • Fulcher & Martin, Inc. another heating oil and Union 76 gasoline distributor with an office and storage plant located at Parson's Siding near Cape Charles, was acquired in 1976. This company's market area was lower Northampton County. The office and plant, rebuilt in 1990, remains in our use today for serving lower Northampton.
  • In 1986, Nordstrom Oil Company was acquired. Nordstrom marketed throughout the Eastern Shore of Virginia and had offices and storage plants in Belle Haven and in Onancock. The Belle Haven facility is now our customer center and supply point for the central Eastern Shore; our service department is also located there. The Nordstrom Onancock plant was later taken out of service and scrapped. Nordstrom had been a branded supplier of BP and Chevron products, and we continue those relationships. Unocal 76 withdrew from marketing in the Eastern US in the late 1980's and BP and Chevron remain our two gasoline brands today.
  • In 1990, we acquired Cape Charles Oil Company, a small heating oil and gasoline distributor, operating in lower Northampton.
  • In 1992, we acquired the heating oil business of Sharpoil, which they in turn had acquired from Kellam Distributing Company in 1988. Today, Bagwell Oil Company is the Eastern Shore's leading supplier of heating fuels, serving thousands of accounts from Pocomoke to Kiptopeake.
  • In 1991, the company's first direct salary operated convenience store was opened at T's Corner. Named CORNER MART, it was the first store in what eventually grew to be a ten store chain, with locations covering the
    Eastern Shore from Chincoteague to Cape Charles. Due to changing economics the chain was sold in 2006, and the company exited the convenience retailing business.
  • In 2005 the company entered the propane sales and service business. A 30000 gallon storage tank was installed at the company's Tasley storage plant, a delivery truck was purchased and a campaign was initiated to build a customer base. Today the company supplies several hundred residential, farm and commercial customers throughout Accomack and Northampton counties and continues to rapidly expand its growing
    family of customers.