My parents had 20 acres of oranges in California's Central Valley 
with a 100-200 gallon underground tank. It had a concrete pad (8 x 8 
??) over it, with a hand-cranked pump in the middle - probably, as 
Richard indicates, due to temperature extremes - 100 plus degrees (in 
the shade, but little shade) in the summer and below freezing in the 
winter. The major consideration for the tank was gas taxes - farm 
equipment was then (and may yet be) exempt from motor vehicle fuel 
taxes. The choice was to drive your equipment for miles over the road 
to fuel up at a station , pay the fuel tax, then claim a refund, or 
have an on-farm tank. It appeared top have been installed in the late 
40's or early 50's.

Robert



At 07:14 PM 10/17/2011, you wrote:
>Well, I don't know about Sandra, but thanks for correcting me about 
>the underground tanks. Never seen one except at big operations (300 
>acres of dryland wheat might qualify, though). Always good to know 
>that experiences and observations are not necessarily facts.
>
>Jeff
>
>Jeffrey L. Boyer
>Supervisory Archaeologist/Project Director
>Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
>
>   *   mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
>   *   physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
>   *   tel: 505.827.6387 fax: 505.827.3904
>   *   e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>"This is no time for archaeologizing . . ." - Amelia Peabody Emerson 
>(The Curse of the Pharoahs, Elizabeth Peters)
>
>________________________________________
>From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of 
>Catherine Dickson [[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Monday, October 17, 2011 5:34 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Question about farmstead gas pumps
>
>Sorry, I have nothing to contribute about dating pumps, but I have 
>to disagree about the idea that only really big farming operations 
>have underground tanks.  My neighbor farms about 300 acres of dry 
>land wheat in Oregon.  She has two underground storage tanks (in 
>different places--one for gas and one for diesel) with pumps just 
>like at gas stations.  Except some collector just took the old style 
>ones and gave her new ones.  She also has a tank mounted on her 
>truck so she doesn't have to bring the tractor in to the pump each 
>time she needs to fill up.
>Catherine Dickson
>Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
>
>
> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:11:03 +0000
> > From: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Question about farmstead gas pumps
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > Sandra,
> > Wish I could help with a reference for the pump -- I'm presuming 
> you mean the hand nozzle, yes? Or do you mean the above-ground box 
> that housed a pump? I do know that most farms and ranches did not 
> and do not have underground tanks, except, perhaps for REALLY big 
> outfits (even then?). Underground tanks are VERY expensive to 
> install, more so to remove, and there are a host of regulations for 
> them, even before the days of environmental laws. Above-ground 
> tanks are mounted on stands of a variety of sorts, mostly depending 
> on the size and full-weight of the tank. They are often 
> gravity-fed, so the nozzle only regulates flow. In fact, I'd 
> suggest you look at the attached url and contact the museum 
> owner/director, Johnnie Meier, for more info, 
> (http://www.route66university.com/study/inthenews/498.php), because 
> I'm pretty sure that the nozzle is never actually a pump device but 
> only regulates flow. I know of this little museum because it's 
> between my home and work. There may simil
>  ar
> > ones near you in CA. In fact, I just googled "gas pump museum" 
> and got a lot of hits, including: http://www.oldgas.com/visit.htm, 
> which lists a remarkable number of museums and collections.
> > Buena suerte,
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > Jeffrey L. Boyer
> > Supervisory Archaeologist/Project Director
> > Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
> >
> > * mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
> > * physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
> > * tel: 505.827.6387 fax: 505.827.3904
> > * e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > "This is no time for archaeologizing . . ." - Amelia Peabody 
> Emerson (The Curse of the Pharoahs, Elizabeth Peters)
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of 
> Pentney, Sandra [[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Monday, October 17, 2011 11:32 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Question about farmstead gas pumps
> >
> > Does anyone know of a reference that can be used to date a certain type
> > of gas pump? We found a partial gas pump on a farm in rural California
> > and are trying to determine how old it may be and if it would have been
> > associated with either an above ground storage tank, or a below ground
> > storage tank. No evidence of a tank was found during survey.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thank you,
> >
> > Sandra.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sandra Pentney, MA, RPA
> >
> > Ecology and Environment, Inc.
> >
> > 401 West A Street, Suite 775, San Diego, CA 92101
> >
> > Phone: 619-696-0578 Ext: 4903| Fax: 619-696-0578
> >
> > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> | www.ene.com
> > <http://www.ene.com>
> >
> >
> >
> > Celebrating 40 Years of Green Solutions