Newcomb Oil

Newcomb Oil Co. is a family-owned company founded in 1924 in Bardstown, Kentucky. Established as a one-location and one-vehicle distributor of Gulf Oil products, Newcomb Oil Co. now operates convenience stores in over 21 counties in Kentucky and Indiana. Newcomb Oil Co. serves as a jobber for BP and Marathon fuels, and Chevron lubricants, and Houghton Chemicals, from three locations in Central and Western Kentucky. In 1924, tenant farmer John C. Newcomb became a commission agent for the Gulf Refining Co., for Nelson County. Times were tough, but a strong work ethic and perseverance persisted, and J.C. Newcomb's business managed to survive economic times, including the Great Depression. In 1946, John L. Newcomb, after a stint in World War II, joined his father in the oil business, subsequently known as J.C. Newcomb & Son. The founder of the business did not live to see the acquisition of the Gulf distributorship from the Gulf Oil Co. by J.C. Newcomb & Son. Family continuity was assured as John L. "Jack" Newcomb, Jr. joined his father in 1976, when the company became Newcomb Oil Co. The purchase of the Gulf distributorship was only the beginning of a series of purchases that led to the formation, and expansion, of the existing Newcomb Oil Co. Present family management was brought up to date when the younger Newcomb son, William D. "Bill" Newcomb, joined the firm in 1981. John is still active as Chairman of Newcomb Oil Co. with Jack as President, and Bill as Vice President. Today, Newcomb Oil Co. owns and operates over sixty convenience stores in twenty-nine communities in Central and Western Kentucky and southern Indiana, under the Five Star Food Mart logo. In all its operations, Newcomb Oil Co. employs about eight hundred persons, with headquarters in Bardstown. From its earliest days, Newcomb Oil Co. was "Fueled by Excellence" and continues highest standards of customer service today.