[citation needed] Herbert Hill Peyton started the company in 1960 with a single gas station on Jacksonville's Northside.

In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the company began to diversify and added convenience items to their filling station shelves.

Filling stations and convenience stores are still the core business of the company, which operates from a 57,000 sq ft (5,300 m2) corporate headquarters in Mandarin.

John returned to the family business and was named company President when his father, Herb retired on January 3, 2012.

Gate Precast manufactures architectural precast concrete at facilities in Kissimmee, Florida; Monroeville, Alabama; Oxford, North Carolina; Ashland City, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Winchester, Kentucky and until they closed due to lack of market demand, Little Rock, Arkansas and Sarasota, Florida.

[23] Surplus concrete is donated to non-profit organizations to build artificial reefs miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.

[31][32] The Gate Outpost is a 100-acre parcel of land effectively surrounded by the Guana River Wildlife Management Area in St. Johns County, Florida.

[34] Gate Maritime Properties (GMP) handles waterfront industrial land, primarily at Blount Island.

In 1986, the United States Marine Corps established the Biennial Maintenance Command (BMC) at Blount Island, Jacksonville, Florida on 262 acres (106 ha) leased from GMP for $11 million per year.

[13] They began featuring 6,400-square-foot (590 m2) buildings that included an in-store café making fresh sandwiches and pizza, smoothies and iced coffee plus frozen yogurt with toppings.

[21] On October 2, 2013, private equity firms Palladin Consumer Retail Partners and Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. announced the acquisition of InMotion Entertainment from Gate Petroleum.

Another big event is the Gate Open, a charity golf tournament for the area's best amateur and professional golfers.

The announcement was made during Gate's annual charity golf tournament at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club.

[22] The 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt entity was established "to support efforts and services that nurture and protect the well-being of family and community," according to its mission statement.

[48] In 2010, Gate started an annual in-store fundraising campaign with change drop boxes at cash registers and the sale of $1 donation cards.

In late 2006, the company announced that due to soaring costs of construction and the fluctuation in the price of ethanol, their original plan was no longer viable and would be scrapped.

[50] In October, 2007 Gate Biofuels announced plans to construct a terminal at the port in Jacksonville to receive and store Ethanol, which would be blended with gasoline before distribution to gas stations.

Nationwide, ethanol production increased 33% from the prior year creating an oversupply because few distributors were prepared to perform the blending process.