After seven remarkable decades, Shipley Oil Company is Central Pennsylvania’s leading total energy supplier.
How we got here is a testament to the many good and hard-working people who have been part of the Shipley family of associates since 1929.
The Early Years
The patriarch of the family was Thomas Shipley, who in the early twenties was president of York Manufacturing, now York International. When the company directors chose not to market worldwide, Thomas and his brothers Samuel and William established 20 outlets for air conditioning around the world and on August 10, 1926, founded Thomas Shipley Inc. to hold the stock for these companies.
Roosevelt Garage and Supply Company, a subsidiary of Thomas Shipley Inc., was founded in 1929 when Tom was 67. It was built on the one-time site of a d
ecaying slum and York’s most notorious bordello ... eyesores across the street from York Manufacturing’s offices on Roosevelt Avenue. They couldn’t be tolerated by a man like Tom ... an influential member of the York community who established the first local Boy Scout troop and the York Chapter of the Masonic Lodge.
So he personally purchased the block and razed the buildings to make room for Roosevelt Garage, which served to service, fuel and park the automobiles of the York employees.
Sadly, Thomas passed away in January of 1930. The reins of the company were passed into the hands of his son, Samuel Hunt Shipley, who was destined to lead the firm for 45 years.
The 1939 purchase of York Oil Burner Company, a manufacturer of oil-fired residential and commercial oil heating equipment, reflected Thomas Shipley Inc.’s commitment to the oil heat business. And in 1943 Samuel changed the parent company’s name to York-Shipley Inc. The restructured firm was no longer just a holding company, but instead manufactured, installed, fueled and serviced oil furnaces and boilers.
The company also provided automotive fuel and supply services, and by 1948 was operating or supplying 30 Esso service stations within the York city limits.
In 1957, Executive Vice-President Lavern Brenneman, who joined the company in 1938, negotiated a merger with Humble-Mundis, Inc., resulting in the newly named Shipley-Humble Division of York Shipley. That transaction set the stage for the 1960s — a time of dramatic growth.
In 1960 Lavern Brenneman became president of York-Shipley, Inc., with Sam Shipley serving as chairman of the board. Sam’s son, William S. Shipley II, was by this time serving as general manager of the Shipley-Humble Division, whose offices would soon be moved to their current East King Street location. The company acquired seven other fuel oil companies. That quickly, the company doubled its home heating business and significantly increased its commercial “heavy oil” business.
Another period of growth
In December of 1968,Shipley-Humble was formed as a separate chartered Pennsylvania Corporation when York-Shipley was sold. Bill Shipley II became the first president of Shipley Humble and presided over another period of momentous growth. Sam Shipley was named chairman of the board of the new firm and served until his death in 1975.
His passing was quite a blow to the York area community, which had come to love Sam through his support of the American Red Cross, Boy Scouts and Little League Baseball. An avid sports fan, he would one day head the York White Roses minor league franchise and found the York Area Sports Nights, which to this day bring some of the world’s top athletes to York every winter.
By 1973, Shipley-Humble’s gasoline operations had undergone a startling metamorphosis. As late as 1958, the company operated 27 service stations in York City. None remained 15 years later, instead, the firm headed out into the suburbs. At the same time, it pioneered self-serve gasoline stations in the area, building the first self-serve Exxon station in the state. And in 1976, it got into the grocery business with its Kwick-Stop units, seemingly prehistoric forefathers to the exciting Tom’s stores operated today by Shipley Stores Inc.
Acquisitions and transitions
More acquisitions enabled the company to expand its market. Most significant was the 1982 purchase of Goodling Inc., which led to a six-year period in which the company was known as Shipley-Humble-Goodling.
In May of 1988, two years after Harry Zimmerman became president and W.S. Shipley II became chairman of the board, the company changed its name to Shipley Oil Company. Bill Shipley III, representing the fourth generation of family leadership, assumed the presidency in 1992. Both father and son continued the legacy of civic responsibility: Bill II served on the York Hospital and CoreStates Bank boards, and as president of the Pennsylvania Petroleum Association. Bill III served as chairman of the YMCA board; other community boards and on the Board of the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America.
Leading up to today...
Under Bill III’s vision, the company has taken aggressive strides toward becoming a total energy company, a much more competitive position given the rapidly changing energy environment. For instance:
- In 1995, Shipley entered the natural gas market, serving industrial and commercial customers. On the heels of further deregulation, we now serve residential customers, as well.
- A merger with Schuchart Oil and Propane expanded Shipley’s service area into Adams County, an adjoining market, and also empowered the company with expertise in the sale and marketing of propane.
- Most recently, Shipley expanded north to Juniata, Perry and Mifflin County and east to Lebanon County.