If it seems like the price goes up every time you drive past a gas station in New Jersey, that's not too far from the truth.

Just a few months ago, we were all nearly celebrating "cheap" gas that was around the $2.99 mark in the Garden State.

Fast forward to June and here we are stuck back in the $3.30s and $3.40s.

But what if you could go back in time and find gas for $1.99 at a pump in New Jersey?

In my recent travels, I found the one and only gas pump offering such a bargain.

  • Remember this? One year ago, gas was around $5/gallon across New Jersey
David Matthau, Townsquare Media NJ
David Matthau, Townsquare Media NJ
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And if you are saying to yourself, "What's the catch," well, sadly, you will need a time machine.

At the corner of the Black Horse Pike and Franklin Blvd. in Pleasantville sits an old gas station. It's been closed for years, however, I always took notice of the old-school pumps in front of the building. You certainly don't see those anymore.

Old gas station in Pleasantville NJ - Photo: Google Maps
Old gas station in Pleasantville NJ - Photo: Google Maps
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Since those pumps are still in decent shape, lately I have been wondering what the price on them was set at.

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So I took a look at the price of "lead free regular" (when was the last time anyone called it that?)...

Old gas pump in Pleasantville NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
Old gas pump in Pleasantville NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
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And it was $1.99!

Old gas pump in Pleasantville NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
Old gas pump in Pleasantville NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
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Wouldn't it be fantastic to fill up at $1.99/gallon again?! Those were the days.

Interestingly enough, this isn't the only non-existent cheap gas price in the area.

Over in Northfield, an independent gas station on Tilton Road closed a few years ago and they never took their sign down. Here, it's a mere $2.10/gallon...

PR Petroleum in Northfield NJ - Photo: Chris Colemanq
PR Petroleum in Northfield NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
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And if you want to see what people were paying for gas during the year you were born...

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Self-serve gas: The pro's and con's of serving ourselves in NJ

The pros of having self-serve gasoline in New Jersey, along with reasons some use to oppose. Let's start with the pros.

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