Dodge Car “Cathedral Lights”
1917 Rockville Garage
Until 1920, Dodge sported a set of six hexagonal windows in the back of each passenger cabin on both their Touring and Roaster models. These were called “cathedral lights” and became the first trademark feature to make Dodge vehicles stand out from the rest. This 1917 photo of Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage shows an early Dodge Motor Car parked in front with the exclusive Dodge Brothers cathedral-style rear curtain windows.
Tags: 1917 dodge, cathedral-style rear curtain windows, dodge, Dodge Brothers, Dodge cathedral lights, dodge history, reed brothers dodge, rockville garage
About Reed Brothers
I am a co-owner of the former Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville, Maryland. Lewis Reed, the founder of Reed Brothers Dodge was my grandfather. We were a family-owned and operated car dealership in Rockville for almost a century. I served in the United States Air Force for 30 years before retiring in the top enlisted grade of Chief Master Sergeant in July 2006. In 2016, I received the Arthur M. Wagman Award for Historic Preservation Communication from Peerless Rockville for documenting the history of Reed Brothers Dodge in both blog and book format. This distinguished honor recognizes outstanding achievement by writers, educators, and historians whose work has heightened public awareness of Rockville’s architectural and cultural heritage, growth and development.A Warm Welcome to our Blog!
My name is Jeanne Gartner and I am the author of this blog. Lewis Reed, the founder of Reed Brothers Dodge was my grandfather. We were a family-owned and operated car dealership in Rockville, Maryland for almost a century.
Reed Brothers was franchised as a Dodge dealership in October 1915; less than one year after the first Dodge automobile rolled off the assembly line. Lewis Reed and his brother Edgar, were the first to sell Dodge cars in Montgomery County Maryland. Reed Brothers is recognized as the oldest dealership under the same family ownership in Maryland, and one of the oldest in the entire nation.
The blog highlights an historic timeline that showcases the company’s history, how Reed Brothers Dodge came into being, and how the company overcame the inevitable changes and challenges throughout almost a century of being in business.
Lewis Reed was also a well-known photographer in Montgomery County. The blog provides a century of knowledge and information extending beyond the automobile. There are 200+ posts that gives a snapshot of what life was like more than 100 years ago.
Business longevity is something to celebrate and share. I created this blog for readers to gain insight into our history and look back at what contributed to its success.
I look forward to sharing our family business history with you.
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Reed Brothers Dodge History (1915-2012) by Jeanne Gartner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915 – 2012 
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