Robinson Oil Corporation began as Mathson Petroleum Company circa 1938 in Watsonville, California. We say circa because we are not positive about the date. I guess if we thought we were going to last this long, we would have paid more attention. William L. Mathson, Sr. started the company, and sold it to his son-in-law, Don Robinson in the early 1950’s (again, we are not sure about the date). Don Robinson moved the company to San Jose in 1964 and the named changed to Robinson Oil. A partnership was formed in 1971