The 75,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s in Luling will feature 120 fuel pumps and employ 200 people. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Buc-ee's

On Monday, the largest gas station in the world — a 75,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s arrayed with 120 fuel pumps — opened in Luling, about an hour northeast of San Antonio.

The opening marks the first time since 2023 that the world’s largest gas station has been located in Texas. The title previously belonged to the Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels. That is, until the company opened an even more expansive location last year in Tennessee.

Although Florida media outlets speculated last week that a Buc-ee’s coming to the Sunshine State next year will dwarf the Luling location, company officials debunked those claims in a statement issued Friday.

In that statement, officials with the Lake Jackson, Texas-based company assured Lone Star State residents that “regarding square footage, the largest store outside of Texas will not exceed 74,000 square feet.”

Buc-ee’s brass released the statement after the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that an 80,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s travel center schedule to open next year in Ocala, Florida, would dethrone the Luling location. That reported square footage was based on 2023 Marion County planning documents, the publication said.

However, Buc-ee’s was quick to force the paper to issue a correction.

“Buc-ee’s is currently in the design and permitting phase for a 74,000-square-foot store in Ocala, Florida, which is our largest store model outside of the State of Texas,” Buc-ee’s Director of Real Estate and Development Stan Beard told the News-Journal.

It’s unclear whether Buc-ee’s always planned for the Ocala location to span 74,000 square feet or whether the company changed its plans at some point. Either way, it appears the record for world’s largest gas station will remain in Texas — at least for the time being.

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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...