Dodge Street

2024-03-01_11-59-34

How Dodge Street In Rockville Got Its Name

Formerly named “Cadiz” on the 1924 Rockville Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, the connector street behind the dealership’s original location was named “Dodge Street” by the State of Maryland following the dealership’s 1941 expansion. For over a half-century (1915-1970) at the triangle, Reed Brothers Dodge became a community icon and a local landmark for motorists traveling to and through Rockville. It was a local landmark that everyone used to give directions – “out Rockville Pike to Reed Brothers Garage, turn left on Dodge Street…”

Dodge Street today is one of the shortest roads in the State at only 250 feet long. It runs from Richard Montgomery High School to Veirs Mill Road across Rockville Pike. The connector street was so short that Lewis Reed liked to joke, “if the state wanted to name a street after him, the street needed to be longer”. Hence, the street was named, “Dodge Street”.

When the state of Maryland widened the roads in 1970, Reed Brothers Dodge relocated from its original location at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike to a new complex at 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville. The dealership’s original site is now Veterans Park.

Sources:
Wikipedia, List of state highways in Maryland shorter than one mile
MDRoads Routes 660-679  Maryland Highways of the Automobile Era