1914-1920s

Lewis Reed was just a young man when he started selling cars built by brothers Horace and John Dodge in Detroit. In 1914, the Dodge brothers had been producing car components for Henry Ford when they decided they could build their own cars. Few people jumped onto the Dodge Brothers bandwagon earlier than Lewis Reed, and not many have lasted longer.

Reed Brothers was franchised as a Dodge dealership and service facility in 1915; less than one year after the first Dodge automobile rolled off the assembly line.

Original 1915 Rockville Garage located at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike

In  1914, Lewis Reed became a partner in Rockville Garage with Robert L. and Griffith Warfield. The Warfield brothers had purchased this building in July 1915, from Lee Ricketts and Sons who had the Overland Agency. In 1918, Lewis Reed bought out the Warfield brothers’ interest and continued the business until 1919 when he was joined by his brother, Edgar. The firm’s name was changed to Reed Brothers upon a suggestion of the late Judge Edward C. Peter. Since they began partnership the company grew to become one of the largest auto agencies in the county.

Reed Brothers handled the first Dodge cars placed on the market in Montgomery County, Maryland. The late George M. Hunter, President of the Montgomery County National Bank, purchased the first automobile sold by the Rockville Garage.

1920s New Car Showroom

This new car showroom is filled with late 1920s Dodge Brothers new car models. The high ceilings and mezzanine floor gives an air of elegance to the showroom and the expanse of windows on the front extends the full width of the building. The showroom faced the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike which gave the dealership maximum visibility to a large volume of cross traffic.

In the background under the arched column is the Bookkeeper’s desk, who at the time was probably Arthur Watkins. The upper floor mezzanine housed the dealership’s Parts Department and storage area. Leo (Pat) Murray started in 1925 and was the Parts Department Manager. Pat worked at Reed Brothers for more than 21 years. To the right of the stairs is Evelyn Beane’s desk, Reed Brothers’ administrative secretary. To the left of the stairs is the Gulf Gasoline service counter displaying various merchandise.

The showroom led to the Service Department at the rear of the building which was how new cars were moved in and out of the showroom. There were 2-3 additional offices in the back of the showroom. One belonged to Edgar Reed (Lewis’ brother) who was generally in charge of the “front end” of the business; new car and truck sales. The other office belonged to Lewis Reed, who was never known to spend a lot of time in his office sitting behind a desk. He could always be found in the “back end” of the business; Service, Parts and Body Shop.

There were no salesman’s desks in the showroom until after World War II. Lewis Reed allotted specific sales territory to his salesmen in four different directions from the dealership. The salesmen spent all day in the outlying areas of Poolesville, Rockville, Barnesville and Spencerville demonstrating cars to potential customers. At that time, Reed Brothers was selling about eight new cars a month and most sales resulted from knocking on people’s doors. Three of the four salesmen at the time were Francis O. Day, Raleigh S. Chinn and Benjamin J. Thompson. Benjamin Thompson of Colesville joined Reed Brothers in 1917 as Salesman and stayed for 30+ years. Raleigh S. Chinn of Rockville started as Salesman with Reed Brothers in 1920.

1916 – The original owners of Rockville Garage. From left: Roy Warfield – Lewis Reed – Griffith Warfield

The first shop force of Rockville Garage consisted of Lewis Reed, Phillip Reed and (first name unknown) Long. A mechanical aptitude was necessary to be a dealer in the early 1900’s. When cars were shipped to the dealer from the manufacturer, they arrived partially assembled in railroad boxcars. It was the dealer’s responsibility to unpack and assemble the cars at the rail yard and drive them back to the dealership. Mechanics were often needed to repair the new cars if they broke down along the way.

Lewis Reed received his automotive training at the Pierce-Arrow factory in Buffalo, New York, the Dodge Hamtramck and Hudson Motor Car factories in Detroit, Michigan and the Washington Auto College. Pierce-Arrow was once one of the most recognized and respected names in the automobile industry. For 38 years, the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company in Buffalo, New York, produced some of the finest automobiles made.

1916 – The First Shop Force: Lewis Reed, (first name unknown) Long and Phillip Reed.

This line of cars with Maryland Dealer license plates are on their way back from the train station to the dealership with new model cars. The car at the rear appears to be getting a helping hand to change a flat tire.

Dealer car stopped (stuck?) on snowbound Goshen Road in rural Gaithersburg. Note the trailing cars slowly making their way up the hill. Although no tire chains are in evidence, they might have been useful coming up that hill.

1915 Rockville Garage First Gas Station – A Single Pump

In 1915, Rockville Garage began selling gas at their original location in Old Rockville at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. It was a perfect site for the filling station due to being on a high visibility corner which gave the dealership maximum visibility to the largest volume of cross traffic. Their first “gas station” consisted of a single pump and one small tank. Rockville Garage dispensed gasoline produced by the Gulf Oil Co. and later offered Texaco gasoline as well. Reed Brothers is credited as the first Gulf gasoline dealer in the Washington, DC area.

1915 – Rockville Garage first gas station – a single pump. View looking West on Main Street of Rockville showing early Trolley car. Also in the background is the old St Mary’s Cemetery.

Reed Brothers new car display decorated with flags for 4th of July festivities and signs promoting Reed Brothers Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicles. Edgar Reed on far left, ca. 1915.

1917 Reed Brothers Dodge Texaco Filling Station

1917 Original building with 2 story addition. Note the Texaco Filling Station signage and the Texaco Petroleum fuel truck refilling the single pump in front.

1917 – Texaco Petroleum Truck “posing” in front of Reed Brothers. In the background is Old St Mary’s Church

This circa 1915 photograph shows some of the original sales and service staff of Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage.

When the United States entered World War I, Lewis Reed worked at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC as a torpedo tester.

As America recovered from World War I, the growing automobile industry began to take shape. Technology began to make its way among all the manufacturers. Dodge capitalized on what it had learned building scout cars for the U.S. Army and the punishment they endured on the European battlefields and applied those great rugged attributes to civilian vehicles. In 1920, it was this durability that really solidified Dodge’s reputation for dependability and propelled the brand to the number two spot United States by producing over 141,000 vehicles.

1917 Original Rockville Garage with 2 story addition. At the left side of the two story building was a narrow vehicle entrance that led to the service department in the rear. A house can be seen behind the addition. Lewis Reed later purchased the remaining home lots (6 total) to expand his dealership in the back. Note the dirt surface of Veirs Mill Road.

1918 Two Story Addition to Original Shop. View From Rear

1918 Two Story Addition to Original Shop. View From Side on Rockville Pike. The first floor housed the Service Department and upper floor was used for parts storage. The chimney was probably to a coal furnace that was used to heat the building. The many windows allowed natural light for working on cars. Back in this time electric lighting was sparse and natural day light was what most people worked by. Signage for Firestone Tires replaced the Fisk brand that was sold at Rockville Garage earlier in 1915.

Reed Brothers was the first to sell Dodge cars in Montgomery County, Maryland. Initially, Reed Brothers sold Oldsmobile and Hudson, along with Dodge. Later they became Dodge Plymouth dealers.

This photo was taken in 1915 by Lewis Reed in front of the original Rockville Garage. Old St Mary’s Church is in the background. Note the unpaved dirt road on Veirs Mill Road. Rockville Garage was a distributor of Fisk Tires until circa 1918, when they replaced it with the Firestone brand. The car is a 1916 Studebaker Roadster.

Horsemobile? This fun and interesting photo was taken by Lewis Reed in 1915. The photo shows William Beall of Rockville in his disabled 1915 Pullman car in front of St Mary’s Church, and his younger brother Vernon “towing” him to Reed Brothers, which was located just across the road.

1918: Rockville Garage Displaying New Cars at Rockville Fair Grounds

An annual County Fair used to be held for four days in the month of August at the old Fairgrounds of Rockville, Maryland. Families came from every section of the Montgomery County in wagons and carriages, and stayed for the duration of the Fair. The Fair also gave automobile dealers the opportunity to display their new models. Below is new car show time as fair-goers get their first glimpse at the latest models that Rockville Garage had to offer.

Rockville Garage displaying their new models at the Rockville Fair Grounds. Photo by Lewis Reed

Anybody for a demonstration drive? Identified by the triangle logo on the grill and the number of passengers seated in it, the car appears to be a 1918 Hudson Super Six Seven Passenger Touring.

Hudson Super Six, Oldsmobile, and Dodge Brothers Motor Cars on display. Lewis Reed in drivers seat.

At Your Service Rockville Garage. Lewis Reed on the left

Rockville Garage Sales & Service Staff circa 1920s. Back Row, standing left to right: name unknown, Charles Case Merry, Lester Wilson, Leonard Beall, John William Norris, name unknown, Leo C. Murray. Second Row: name unknown, name unknown, Otis Beall, Philip Reed, Aubrey Souders, Arthur Souders. Front row, middle: Walter (Bud) Beall. Lewis Reed’s brother, Philip (boxed in the middle) came to work for Reed Brothers as a mechanic in 1916. The men dressed in uniforms were Gulf gas station attendants. The identities of the other men in the photo are unknown.

Other Original Employees

Raleigh S. Chinn, Rockville, started as Salesman with Reed Brothers in 1920
Evelyn Beane, Administrative Secretary
Paul F. Wire, Bookkeeper
W. Lester Wilson, Rockville, started in 1918 as Shop Foreman and stayed for 28 years
Alfred Fraley, Redland, started in 1917 as a mechanic and stayed for more than 30+ years
Benjamin J. Thompson, Colesville, started in 1917 as Salesman and stayed for 30+ years
Phillip Reed (a brother), started in 1916 as a mechanic. Phillip was a part of the first shop force and stayed with the company until 1944
Grafton Reed (a brother), worked as a mechanic in 1921
Leo (Pat) Murray started in 1925 and was the Parts Department Manager. Pat worked at Reed Brothers for more than 21 years
Richard C. Burdette, Rockville, mechanic
John Burdette, Gaithersburg, Gas Station Attendant
Marvin Shultz, Gas Station Attendant/Salesman. Stayed with Reed Brothers his entire career
Mary Ann (Slater) Beall, Rockville, Bookkeeper
Guy Merry
Clyde Souders

1919: Dealer of Bates Steel Mules

From the Montgomery County Sentinel, August 22, 1935.

In addition to automobiles, the Rockville Garage also sold Bates Steel Mules, “the most efficient tractor in America.” The Bates Steel Mule Tractor, sold in 1919 by the Rockville Garage, was designed at the dawn of the steel-wheeled tractor era to pull any horse-drawn implement the farmer owned.

Montgomery County Sentinel, April 18, 1919

Reed Brothers Becomes An Original Member of the Chrysler Family

In 1928, Walter P. Chrysler took over after Horace and John Dodge died and Lewis Reed became an original member of the Chrysler family. The first Plymouth was built in 1928 and Plymouths were sold at Reed Brothers until 1969, when the Plymouth brand was given to the Chrysler dealers.

The year of the stock market crash that began the Great Depression, nobody could afford to buy cars. Like most other businesses, the Great Depression hit hard and most dealerships had to declare bankruptcy. Reed Brothers had to rely on its Service Department to make ends meet. But, the dealership survived through these lean times.

First Car Invoice

June 22, 1921 was no doubt an exciting day for Mr Henry C. Brown, as that was the day he purchased a brand new 1921 DODGE BROTHERS TOURING CAR  from Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage. The car was sold for $1050.00 and signed for by Edgar Reed. The logos on the invoice below are the original Dodge Brothers Motor Cars and Oldsmobile Sales Company logos.

1921 Dodge Brothers Touring Car Invoice Signed By Edgar Reed

This is the first known photograph of the entire Montgomery County Police Force. Pictured left to right: Earl Burdine, Lawrence Clagett, Guy Jones, Chief Charles Cooley, Leroy Rodgers, and Oscar Gaither. Photo taken by Lewis Reed on July 4, 1922.

Posing in front of Reed Brothers Dodge on July 4, 1922 Chief Charles Cooley, center, and his men of the first mounted unit of the Montgomery County Police Force, were on their first day of duty. For several years, since there was no police station, the officers would meet for “roll call” on the steps of the Red Brick Courthouse in Rockville at 2:00 p.m. every day to let each other know they were alive and well. Chief Cooley was given the privilege of a Model T Ford. The chief was paid $1,800 a year (the chief now gets $112,564) while the officers got $1,500. Each of the officers was issued a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a .38 Smith & Wesson handgun, a black jack, law book and was allotted $300.00 a year for the upkeep of their motorcycle. Jones patrolled Silver Spring, Rodgers the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area and Burdine, Clagett and Gaither the Upper County areas. By 1927, the department would more than triple in size, but no other officers would have to learn their job the way this squad did.

Reed Brothers Dodge got a new facelift and remodel in 1921. Note the modern gas pumps. The Rockville Fair Grounds are beyond the boarded fence.

All ready for new owners. Note the new awning on the front of the building.

1922 – Three of the crew are seen posing with Dodge Commercial Cars.

Below are architectural changes in the Reed Brothers Dodge front that can be seen in the photos below. A second story was added to the showroom with a glazed front looking out onto Rockville Pike on the right. A modern drive-through canopy was also added along with new gasoline pumps and Dodge Car and Truck signage.

New showroom, canopy and gasoline pumps were added. The Alemite sign in front indicates that Reed Brothers also sold and used the Alemite lubricating system.

That Good Gulf Gasoline drive-through filling station. Note the unpaved dirt road on Rockville Pike and trolley tracks.

A close-up view can be seen of the new gasoline pump-island with four pumping units along with the motor oil dispensers used at that time. The old pump island can be seen to the left along with a new “That Good Gulf Gasoline” sign. In the background is the old St Mary’s Church and Cemetery in Rockville.

Dodge Brothers Motor Car and Graham Brothers Truck signage. Note the onlookers and firetruck on the right by the trolley track.