The first commercially successful product of the petroleum industry was kerosene. used for home lighting. Kerosene was sold in one, three or five gallon cans and was distributed by most of the General Stores in the United States. Before the gasoline powered internal combustion engine was perfected in the late nineteenth century, gasoline was an unwanted by-product of the kerosene refining process. When gasoline powered automobiles went into production, after 1895, the oil companies had a market for gasoline. Standard Oil used its already established relationships with General Stores to install a gasoline pump and distributed gasoline through an already established marketing channel, starting in 1909. The oil companies did not start to build gas stations, until Gulf opened their first one in Pittsburgh PA, on December 1, 1913.
There were two factors that caused oil companies to start building gas stations. The first was the break-up of the Standard Oil monopoly in 1911. The second was the introduction of the Ford Model T. The Model T was the first car that was inexpensive enough to be affordable by the working class. The Model T was also the first inexpensive car that was rugged enough to handle the unimproved roads that laced the United States at the time.
Source: "Fill 'er up : The Great American Gas Station" by Tim Russell

You've made an assumption here about the reasons that electric cars aren't more popular, and that assumption is largely incorrect. It's not just an issue of the availability of charging stations-- I'll expound.

The first electric car was developed in 1887 by a fellow named William Morrison.

Between then and the mid 1910's there were ~100 electric car manufacturers who had varying degrees of success. Some of the companies went on to become household names of the 20th century (GE, Studebaker). Some built just a few examples, others-- like Baker built thousands (and of very good quality-- making them collectible today-- Jay Leno owns and drives a Baker Electric. Electric cars were largely marketed to women, who as homemakers would need transportation around town, but would not venture far from home, as this 1911 New York Times article notes-- and that NYT article points directly to biggest hurdle for electric cars have faced for 120 years-- the issue of range.

Modern owners of electric cars (even the Tesla) will almost universally still own a gasoline powered car-- for when they need to go on a longer trip than the range of their vehicle will permit-- they can just fill it up and go. Even quick charging stations take hours to bring an electric car back up to a full charge.