Looking Back at the Montgomery County Fair, Whose Origins Stretch Back to 1846
It’s August, which means the Montgomery County Fair is coming soon! (The Agricultural Center’s website is literally counting down the seconds until opening day.) Since the fair will be here soon, I thought it would be fun and interesting to look back at some rare, historical photographs taken by Lewis Reed at the fair, whose origins stretch back 172 years.
All of these photographs are from the first incarnation of the Fair, held by the Montgomery County Agricultural Society (1846-1932) in Rockville and often known simply as the “Rockville Fair.” The current Fair, held at the Gaithersburg fairgrounds, was started in 1949. From the August 25, 1923 Washington Post Rockville Fair Auto Race article, to some of the earliest known photographs of the original grounds, Lewis Reed’s photos show the splendor of the original fairgrounds with its grandstands, to the oval dirt track used for bicycle, harness, and later, car races, and conversion to a baseball field.
Fair goers in their finest stroll along the midway. Hats were a fashion requirement at the time, as were long flowing dresses and suits. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
The headline of the Washington Post article about the race read, “Auto Races to Clash at Rockville Today”.
World speed records will be placed in jeopardy at Rockville fair this afternoon when half score of professional drivers, including speedway and dirt track auto monarchs, will compete in a seven-event program.
The 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. Like many fairgrounds, the Rockville Fairgrounds included an oval track. Fairground race tracks, typically one-mile or half-mile dirt racing ovals with wide, sweeping curves and grandstands for spectators, were easily adapted for bicycles, harness racing, and the sport of car racing. The fairgrounds were just outside Rockville, about where Richard Montgomery High School is today. As always, click the photos to get a better look.
Fairgrounds in the snow. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Chicken House. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Riding the Ferris Wheel at Rockville Fair, circa 1920s. Photo by Lewis Reed
Fair goers meander through exhibits. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Hundreds of cars parked in the fair parking lot. What is fascinating to me is, with all of these early cars painted in black, how on earth would you find your car? Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
View from the grandstand. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
View from the grandstand. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Families came in wagons and carriages to the Rockville Fairgrounds and stayed for the duration. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Can you hear me now? Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Agricultural and various farm equipment exhibit. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Sign on the left side of the building reads, “The Beautiful Caverns of Luray Souvenirs”. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1910
Bicycle Racing
Like many fairgrounds, the Rockville Fairgrounds included an oval track. Fairground race tracks, typically one-mile or half-mile dirt racing ovals with wide, sweeping curves and grandstands for spectators, were easily adapted for bicycles, harness racing, and the sport of car racing.
This circa 1915 photo of an early bicycle race at the Rockville Fairgrounds gives a sense of just how popular the sport was at the time. Photo by Lewis Reed
Harness Racing
Harness race at the Rockville Fair, circa 1910. All those throngs of people had plenty to see. Photo by Lewis Reed
This photo shows the grandstand and surrounding areas filled with spectators watching the action, ca. 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Crowd at the racetrack. Photo by Lewis Reed
Bend on the racetrack, circa 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Harness racers rounding the bend on the racetrack, circa 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Auto Racing
The photos below reveal what auto racing looked like in the days before helmets, seat belts, air bags, and traction control.
Rockville drew huge crowds for auto races. Rockville Fair, August 1923. Photo by Lewis Reed
Dusty Action – 1923 photo of the exciting auto races at Rockville Fair. Five racers are just coming around the bend on this dirt track with their tires spinning up dust in their wake. Photo by Lewis Reed
Two-man race car. Some early race cars included both a driver and a ‘riding mechanic’. One of the key jobs of the second man in a race car was to look backward and alert the driver to what was going on behind him. Photo by Lewis Reed
Early race car drivers were required to have a riding mechanic, otherwise it was voluntary. Riding mechanics, who in addition to being lookouts, kept an eye on tire wear and would even hop out of the car and run back through the infield to get fuel.
More dirt track action. Skinny tires make for slippery turns. Photo by Lewis Reed
Below is a 1923 Washington Post article for an auto race at the Rockville Fair.
Rockville Fair Race Ad
A football field was designed within the oval of the old Fair racetrack in 1946.
Dirt track racing was one of the main attractions, but the Fair also provided other events such as horse pulls, games of chance, showing of prized livestock and poultry, needlework, homegrown produce, baked and canned goods. A building called the Exhibit House displayed the prize-winning entries of the various categories.
Rockville Garage Displaying New Model Cars at Rockville Fair Grounds, 1918
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.
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. Photo by Lewis Reed
Hudson Super Six, Oldsmobile, and Dodge Brothers Motor Cars on display. Lewis Reed in drivers seat of Rockville Garage Service Truck.
Rockville Garage tent displaying Hudson Super Six, Oldsmobile, and Dodge Brothers Motor Cars at the Rockville Fair Grounds. Photo by Lewis Reed
At Your Service Rockville Garage. Lewis Reed on the left
Reed Brothers Dodge Baseball Team at Rockville Fair, ca. 1920
Most likely, Rockville’s first experience with baseball was during the Civil War on the fields where Richard Montgomery High School now stands. It was known as “Camp Lincoln” because of the Union encampment there, and Federal soldiers helped popularize the new game they brought from the North. After the Civil War those fields – known as the Rockville Fairgrounds – continued to be a popular place for baseball.
Reed Brothers Dodge had a company baseball team that played on those same fields. The photos below were taken by Lewis Reed on a field at the Rockville Fairgrounds circa early 1920s.
Pat Murray (Parts Department Manager), keeping score. Photo by Lewis Reed
Reed Brothers Dodge Baseball Team, circa early 1920s. Photo by Lewis Reed
Reed Brothers Dodge Baseball Team, circa early 1920s. Photo by Lewis Reed
In 1949, the Montgomery County Agricultural Center (the Fairgrounds) was moved from Rockville to its current location adjacent to the B&O Railroad between Chestnut Street and Perry Parkway.
Source: Montgomery History
1929 Montgomery County F3 Tornado: Aftermath Photos
Spectators view the destruction at the Benson farm, May 1929. Photo by Lewis Reed
One of the worst tornadic outbreaks in area history occurred on May 2, 1929. At about 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, 1929, northeastern Montgomery County was struck by an F3 tornado, part of a large storm system that caused devastation from Florida to Ohio. The weekly Montgomery County Sentinel reported on May 10th that the “wind storm of cyclonic power . . . was of limited width and serpentine on its course. Everything in its path met with destruction.” These previously unpublished photographs were taken by Lewis Reed “after the tornado of May 2, 1929”.
May 1929. Photo by Lewis Reed
The damage in the county was limited to the rural Unity area, north of Brookeville. The Sentinel article detailed each affected farm, noting that “thousands of persons from far and near visited the scene for several days to look upon the indescribable wreckage.”
May 1929. Photo by Lewis Reed
From the Sentinel: “The storm showed its first violence upon the farm of Mr. J. William Benson. There it destroyed every building – the dwelling house, large barn, 117 feet long, including an attached shed, and all other outbuildings.” The farm was unoccupied, but furniture belonging to “a prospective tenant” was destroyed. Mr. Benson’s apple orchard was also significantly damaged, and the article claimed that “many [trees] were lifted into the air, carried over woods and landed several miles away.”
Lewis Reed’s daughter, Mary Jane, May 1929. Photo by Lewis Reed
The fire departments of Rockville, Gaithersburg and Sandy Spring responded to the call made by farm worker James Leizear, who “extricated himself from the wreckage” and ran half a mile to a neighbor’s house to summon help.
The Post reported on May 4th that 28 people in Maryland and Virginia had been killed by tornadoes during the storm; most of the casualties were in Virginia, where an elementary school was struck full-force and at least 18 children died. In Montgomery County, the local Red Cross Chapter formed a citizen committee to raise funds “for relief of the sufferers.”
May 1929. Photo by Lewis Reed
Note: These photographs were undated and unlabeled in my grandfather’s collection. My mother, Mary Jane (Reed) Gartner, who is seen above when she was almost 7 years old, positively identified these photographs and just about pinpointed the location! She is almost 96 years old! It’s amazing the things you remember from your early childhood.
Information Source: A Fine Collection
Then & Now: New Occidental Hotel Washington, DC
In this “Then & Now” feature, I have combined one of Lewis Reed’s original photograph’s for “then” and matched it with a corresponding contemporary shot for “now” to see how the location has changed or remained nearly the same through the years. I started doing this as a research tool, now I mostly do it because of my passion for history and fascination with the subject. In the following photographs, you can see the difference 100 years can make.
New Occidental Hotel (THEN): The New Occidental Hotel was built by Henry Willard (of Willard Hotel fame) in 1906. If any of 2,500 celebrities — including four presidents — forgot who they were, they could stop by the Occidental Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue and check their picture on the wall. Within a few years the Occidental became known as the place “Where Statesmen Dine”.
After the restaurant closed in 1971, the wall-to-wall collection of paintings and photographs of the famous was auctioned off. The new Occidental Restaurant re-opened at 1475 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, almost on the old site, as part of the Willard Collection of buildings.
Looking from the Treasury Building directly at the United States Capitol, this 1912 photograph taken by Lewis Reed shows the first floor retail shops and the Occidental Hotel, which has an Electric Grill Room, on the left. On the right are office buildings and the Old Post Office. The magnificent Raleigh Hotel held a commanding position on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the Old Post Office Building. The Occidental Hotel was located at 1411 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Historic street view of Pennsylvania Avenue. Photo by Lewis Reed, 1912
New Occidental Hotel (NOW): Google Street View from approximately the same perspective in 2018.
Screenshot of Google Street View 2018
Lewis Reed’s ‘Ghost’ Photograph
Surrealistic, ghost-like effect of Lewis Reed (right) standing next to a tree in the middle of train track. From Lewis Reed’s Photograph Collection
Lewis Reed had a passion for photography and had the know-how to try out a few of the trick shots that were popular at the time — including creating double exposures that made it look as if there were ghosts in the picture.
When I saw this photograph — which is slick enough to fool anyone not paying attention to detail — I became curious. How on earth did he do that? So I did some research to get some information on what went into this type of photography. This technique often left a telltale vertical line along the center of the image — a fuzzy stripe separating the two exposures.
Supernatural effects were mainly accomplished using double exposure. When developing the photos, a pre-prepared glass plate would be used which already had the image of a person on it. This would be the ‘ghost’. It would then be inserted into the camera in front of an unused plate which was used to shoot the photo. The developed negative comes out with both images on it — an incompletely exposed ghostly image as well as a sitter, looking perfectly unaware.
I think it’s really amazing how Lewis Reed’s early photography shows such versatility and creativity.
Reed Brothers Memorabilia
Dealers have always produced a wide array of promotional giveaways. These items are rare finds, because most get thrown away when the doors are closed. Some of the more difficult collectibles to obtain are awards given to the salespeople for outstanding sales performance, including neckties, cuff links, pen and pencil sets, and award plaques. Unique items were often given to salesmen to promote a new model being released that year. Each year at new car introduction, dealers created an entirely new set of collectibles. A few items were provided by the factory to promote a theme for the new models, but most of the others were created uniquely by the dealer.
Most of the memorabilia in this special post belonged to Marvin Shultz, Reed Brothers longest tenured employee. Marvin worked for 43 of the company’s 97 years of existence before retiring in 1984 as a new car salesman. A few others are from my own personal collection.
I would like to express my thanks to the Shultz family for sending me these mementos!
1970s Dodge emblem neckties. Courtesy the Shultz family
Sales Meeting left to right: Dorsey Howes (Sales Manager), Dale Reed (Salesman), Marvin Shultz (Salesman), Lee Gartner (President). In the 1970s, the sales staff wore red blazers with the Dodge emblem on the pocket. Note the neckties.
1970s Reed Brothers Dodge Service Department Pen – Quaker State Motor Oil. Courtesy the Shultz family.
Reed Brothers Dodge license plate. J. Gartner collection
Reed Brothers Dodge license plate. J. Gartner collection
Reed Brothers Automotive license plate. J. Gartner collection
Reed Brothers license plate frame. J. Gartner collection
Reed Brothers Dodge Polo Shirt with original logo. J. Gartner collection
Reed Brothers Dodge Hat. J. Gartner collection
Reed Brothers Dodge T-Shirt. J. Gartner collection
Books
Related Resources
Copyright Notice
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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