History

In 1933 there was a small oil dealer in Newcastle owned by Foss Etheridge, known as Etheridge Oil, with four 15,000 gallon above ground tanks.  The company was located on the Mills Road across from the Damariscotta Mills Fire Station.

Ken Colby	Charlie Gale

After being discharged from WWII service in 1944, Charlie Gale and Ken Colby went to work for Etheridge Oil and in April of 1946 they purchased the business, changing the name to Colby & Gale, Inc. and setting up shop in the Day Block Building in Damariscotta.  At this point, there were two trucks; Charlie drove one and Ken drove the other.

By 1947, Colby & Gale had grown into a fuel oil and bottled gas company. With this expansion they also purchased three fuel trucks; a Chevy with a 680 gallon capacity, a Ford with a 860 gallon capacity, and an International with a 1,000 gallon capacity. Neil Sprague joined the company that year, working as a bookkeeper and manning the pumps. Neil left in 1950 to join the United States Navy, returning in 1954.

Elm Street Plaza, 1950's

Neil Sprague bought the company from Charlie’s widow, Kathryn, and began to once again expand the company. A new building project, behind the Day Block Building, was part of this expansion effort. The first store was occupied by a State Liquor Store and other stores were gradually added in a row to form what is now the Elm Street Plaza. The new stores included Leighton’s Barber Shop, Western Auto, Wheelers and in 1966 the Laundromat was added. Ken Colby operated the new Laundromat, which was eventually purchased by Colby & Gale and is still owned and operated by the company today. A diner was built by Ken York in 1969 in back of the plaza on an old landfill for Robert Fairfield. In 1982 the diner became Backstreet Landing, which burnt and was rebuilt in 1998, and has been recently bee used as a restaurant. Further expansion of the plaza occurred in 1977 when the second floor was added to hold ten apartments.

Also around this time Colby & Gale acquired Jimmy Phillips’ power equipment business located at Jimmy’s house. Shortly thereafter, Neil Sprague built two buildings on the corner of the Belvedere Road and Route 1 in Damariscotta. One was rented to the telephone company and the other became the new Phillips Power Products. In 1979 Neil retired selling the business to Jimmy Phillips and Barry “Gus” Knott. By this time the business began to outgrow the space at the Day Block, so twenty acres were purchased on the Biscay Road in Damariscotta. New offices for Colby & Gale and the Phillips Power Products business were built on this property. In August of 1988 the company started moving fuel tanks to the property, four storage tanks, from the Mills Road, 15,000 gallons each; and two 50,000 gallon tanks from the Belvedere Road. This move was no small task, and involved several contractors and movers. The slow moving convoy started in Damariscotta Mills at around 5:00 am and made its way down Main Street to Biscay Road with workers raising utility lines with sticks so they would not get snagged by the huge fuel tanks. The 11 x 23 foot tanks are still in use today at the Biscay Road facility.

By January of 1991, Phillips Power Products had relocated from the Belvedere Road to the Biscay Road.  Three months later, in April, Jimmy Phillips retired, selling his half of the company to Danny Hallowell.  In 1993 Barry Knott sold his half to Robert Clifford, his son-in-law.  In January of 2000, long time employee Verne Verney became an owner after Danny Hallowell retired. 

Over the years Colby & Gale has expanded its business to include the Irving Service Station, in downtown Damariscotta; the Laundromat, in Elm Street Plaza; the apartment rentals and other leased space, along with an active fuel business that includes the sale and delivery of diesel, kerosene, propane, fuel oil, LP gas and a 24-hour service department.

The owners of Colby & Gale have had a long history of military service starting with Charlie Gale and Ken Colby and extending to one of the current owners, Robert Clifford. Robert served twenty years in the United States Army and retired with the rank of Major. Supporting employees as they are called to active service in the reserves comes from understanding the strain that duty in the military can cause families. In 2003 this support was recognized by the Committee for Employer Support of Guard and Reserves, which awarded Robert Clifford, Patriotic Employer of the Year.

Colby & Gale’s support for their community extends beyond their employees to the community at large and includes: Lincoln Academy with an annual $500 scholarship for a deserving senior, sponsoring the band for the annual Damariscotta Fourth of July celebration, supporting local non-profits, sponsoring Little League teams and serving on local school boards.

Most recently Robert Clifford along with two other local businessmen formed the Community Energy Fund of Lincoln County, a non-profit corporation dedicated to helping Lincoln County residents in need. They recognized a need to avoid worst case scenarios in the heating fuel market and quickly found a way to help compliment the existing sources of support for the local community. To date the organization has helped hundreds of families stay warm.

From humble beginnings in 1933, Colby & Gale has grown into a full service, community based company, with 36 employees, tanks with capacity for 200,000 gallons and 22 trucks which haul between 3,200 and 3,300 gallons each.