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 These previously unpublished photographs were taken by Lewis Reed “after the tornado of May 2, 1929”.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.
Then & Now: Lucy the Elephant Atlantic City, New Jersey
This post is a continuation of a series of “Then & Now” images that will show photographs of buildings, street scenes, and other historical locales from Lewis Reed’s Photo Collection alongside photographs of how they appear today.
Lucy the Elephant (THEN): Through the first half of the 20th century, Lucy served as a restaurant, business office, cottage, and tavern (the last closed by Prohibition). The building was depicted on many souvenir postcards, often referred to as “The Elephant Hotel of Atlantic City.” (The actual hotel was in a nearby building, not inside the elephant.)
Lucy the Elephant. Photo by Lewis Reed, 1910.
Lucy the Elephant (NOW): The Elephant Hotel was neglected in more recent years, and eventually fell into a sad state of disrepair. In 1966, “Lucy” was saved from the wrecking ball when she was designated as a National Historic Landmark. On July 20, 1970 Lucy was moved about 100 yards to the west-southwest to a city owned lot and completely refurbished. In October, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Margate. Lucy remained unscathed, although the surge reached the building’s toes and a small booth in the parking lot was blown over. On July 23, 2016, Lucy announced her candidacy for President of the United States at a celebration for her 135th birthday.
Lucy the Elephant, National Historic Landmark, November 20, 2011
Lewis Reed Photo: Lady & Toddler on a 1913 Excelsior
Unknown lady and toddler posing on an Excelsior motorcycle. Photo by Lewis Reed
Back in the early part of the last century when the motorcycle was still new and a novelty, it was often used for Kodak moments.
Lewis Reed has a number of photographs showing relatives and other unknown people on their motorcycles in the period of the early 1900s through the early 1920s. This photo taken by Lewis Reed is an unknown lady and a toddler (mother/daughter?) posing on an Excelsior motorcycle. The motorcycle was easy to identify because of the logo, but I could not pinpoint the exact year it was made. I tend to think it might be a circa 1913-1914 model Excelsior.
This is, without question, one of the best posed photos on a motorcycle that I have come across in my grandfather’s albums. The toddler’s sporty little cap and goggles make the image. Just imagine how excited she must have been to sit on that big machine.
The motorcycle seems to be well equipped with extras including: a headlamp, a handlebar-mounted Klaxon horn, and a well padded passenger seat on the back.
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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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