Gate Petroleum Company
About Us

Herbert H. Peyton opens the first GATE service station on Moncrief Road in Jacksonville, Fla.

GATE establishes its corporate office at 9540 San Jose Blvd. in Jacksonville, Fla. The site continues to serve as the company’s headquarters today.

GATE enters the fuel delivery service business starting with residential delivery and fuel oil sales.

GATE enters auto parts business.

Company purchases its first fuel transport tanker truck.

GATE expands its convenience stores into Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and Louisiana.

GATE diversifies its business holdings with the purchase of a 550-acre potato farm in Hastings, Fla.

Evolving with the times, GATE begins offering self-service fueling.

GATE purchases Big Tree Racquet Club in Jacksonville, Fla.

GATE opens a roofing plant in Green Cove Springs, Fla., quickly becoming the largest asphalt felt plant under one roof in the United States.

GATE develops Southpoint Business Center, a 410-acre mixed use office center in Jacksonville.

GATE acquires Houdaille-Duval Wright’s Jacksonville prestressed concrete plant. In the coming years, the company acquires another structural precast plant in Pearland, Texas and purchases its first architectural precast plant in Monroeville, Ala.

GATE acquires the real estate assets of Stockton, Whatley & Davin, assuming ownership of Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, Deerwood Country Club, Ponte Vedra Realty and additional property throughout Northeast Florida, including 14,000 acres in Northeastern St. Johns County.

GATE sells more than 13,000 acres of property to the State of Florida to establish the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. GATE retains two miles of ocean front, one and three-quarter miles of Guana lake front and the nearly 100-acre Outpost property for future low-density residential development.

GATE acquires the riverfront mansion built in the late 1920′ by Alfred I. duPont and his wife, Jessie Ball DuPont in Jacksonville.

GATE becomes title sponsor of GATE River Run USA 15K Championship race, a sponsorship that continues today.

GATE purchases Blount Island, approximately 2,000 acres on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Fla. The following year, GATE leased a portion of Blount Island property to the United States Marine Corps.

The Spa opens at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

GATE opens the former duPont mansion as Epping Forest Yacht & Club, a private membership club on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville.

GATE acquires 28 7-Eleven stores in Northeast Florida.

GATE acquires the Riverplace Tower, a 28-floor office building on the Southbank of the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville.

GATE acquires The Lodge & Club, a private membership club and AAA Four-Diamond oceanfront resort in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

GATE begins its fleet service business, offering companies the opportunity to better manage their fuel purchasing.

GATE acquires architectural concrete plants in Ashland City, Tenn.; Winchester, Ky.; Oxford, N.C.; Kissimmee, Fla. and Dallas, Texas, creating one of the nation’s largest producers of architectural and structural precast concrete and pre-stressed hollow core slabs.

GATE Fuel Service division begins offering lubricant products.

GATE acquires and renovates The River Club, a private business and social club located in downtown Jacksonville.

GATE purchases 5,400 acres in northern St. Johns County, Fla., along Interstate 95. Today the property is the site of the company’s Durbin Park mixed-use development.

The company purchases 10,000 acres in Baldwin, Fla.

GATE master plans and develops The Shoppes at Bartram Walk in St. Johns County and Kendall Town Center in Jacksonville.

GATE acquires InMotion Entertainment, the largest U.S. airport retailer of entertainment and electronics.

With a long history of corporate philanthropy, the company forms the GATE Foundation to formalize its corporate giving.

GATE acquires “150 West Main,” an office tower in Norfolk, Va., featuring 225,498 square feet of Class A office space with stunning views of downtown and the waterfront.

GATE founder, Herbert Hill Peyton assumes the role of company chairman. His son, John Peyton, rejoins GATE as president after serving two-terms as mayor of the City of Jacksonville.

GATE introduces Yobe™, a low-fat or fat-free frozen yogurt into participating GATE convenience store locations.

The company launches its first Fresh Kitchen, a fast-casual café serving freshly prepared food and drinks. GATE continues expansion of this concept into convenience stores throughout its network.

GATE, along with its development partner Gatlin Development, announces plans for the creation of Durbin Park, a 1,600 acre, super-regional, mixed use development in Northern St. Johns County.

GATE launches GATE Express Carwash, with plans to build and operate free-standing, express tunnel car washes throughout Northeast Florida. Hill Peyton, son of founder Herbert Hill Peyton, is named president of the new organization.

GATE Express Carwash opens its first location on Collins Road in Jacksonville, Fla.