Forget Valentine’s, Happy Ferris Wheel Day!
Ferris Wheel at Rockville Fair, circa 1920s. Photo by Lewis Reed
Did you know that February 14th is not only Valentine’s Day, but also Ferris Wheel Day? This unofficial national holiday is held on this day to honor the birth of the inventor of the Ferris Wheel, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. What better way to celebrate Ferris Wheel Day than enjoying this old photograph of the Ferris Wheel taken at the Rockville Fairgrounds, courtesy of Lewis Reed. The fairgrounds were just outside Rockville, about where Richard Montgomery High School is today. The Fair lasted four days, from August 21st to the 24th, and drew visitors from local counties, Washington, and Baltimore.
For the singles and the “enough already with the Valentines”, here is your perfect alternative excuse. Go wish all your friends and family a Happy Ferris Wheel Day!
And They’re Off! Rockville Fair Dirt Track Racing
This special post is a collection of early dirt track race photos that were taken by Lewis Reed at the Rockville Fair in the early 20th century. Held by the Montgomery County Agricultural Society (1846-1932) in Rockville, Maryland, the fair was known simply as the “Rockville Fair.” The fair’s oval dirt track was used for bicycles, harness races and later, cars.
Since the mid-19th century, an annual county fair was held in Montgomery County for four days in the month of August. Families came in wagons and carriages to the Rockville Fairgrounds and stayed for the duration. 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.
Early action shots like these were difficult to take and are fairly rare, however, all of the photographs below were taken by Lewis Reed at the Rockville Fairgrounds in the early 1910-1920s. The fairgrounds were just outside Rockville, about where Richard Montgomery High School is today. The Fair lasted four days, from August 21st to the 24th, and drew visitors from local counties, Washington, and Baltimore. As always, click the photos to get a better look.
Bicycle 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
Harness racers rounding the bend on the racetrack, Rockville Fairground circa 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Bend on the harness racetrack, Rockville Fairground circa 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Crowds at the racetrack, Rockville Fair. Photo by Lewis Reed
Harness race at the Rockville Fair, circa 1910. Same vantage point as auto race photo below. Photo by Lewis Reed
Harness racing was one of the main attractions, but after the introduction of the automobile in the early 20th century, auto races took over…
Auto Racing
The photos below depict auto races at the Rockville fairgrounds. The photo of a harness race above was taken from approximately the same vantage point as the auto race below, which you don’t see very often in pictures from that era.
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
This race car is a total mystery…what on earth is it? It appears to be a two-man race car. Photo by Lewis Reed
More dirt track action. Photo by Lewis Reed
Below is a 1923 Washington Post ad 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.
“In My Merry Oldsmobile” …100 Years Ago
Come away with me, Lucille: In my merry Oldsmobile: Down the road of life we’ll fly: Automo-bubbling, you and I….
Ethelene Thomas Reed, who married Lewis Reed in 1921, is sitting in passenger seat of a circa 1918 Oldsmobile Club Roadster and her sister, Celeste Thomas Brown, is sitting behind her in the back seat. Photo by Lewis Reed
One of the things I enjoy doing is looking through all of the old photographs in my grandfather’s albums and trying to figure out who and what they are. I came across these two photographs and recognized the passengers, so thought it would be fun to try and identify the car, so I went on a quest. After spending some time viewing images of four brands of cars of the period with a similar appearance, I found it looks a lot like the two-door, four-passenger 1918 Oldsmobile Club Roadster pictured below. Looks the same to me. What do you think?
Fully restored 1918 Oldsmobile Model 45A Club Roadster – Reference Vehicle
Back in the early part of the last century when the automobile was still new and a novelty, it was often used for Kodak moments. Both old photographs show the same two young women posing in them – one is my grandmother, Ethelene Reed, who married Lewis Reed in June 1921, and the other is her sister, Celeste Thomas Brown.
Vehicles from that era are fascinating and are often photographed with equally fascinating surroundings. I wonder what the two dapper young men were repairing on the car in the top photo?
1918 Oldsmobile Roadster shown with Ethelene and her sister Celeste behind the wheel. Photo taken by Lewis Reed at the Clinton Clay Thomas family farm which was located on Butterfly Lane in Braddock, Maryland.
Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage sold more than just Dodges. During the early years, Reed Brothers represented several franchise nameplates along with Dodge, including Oldsmobile, Hudson and Essex. The Hudson and Oldsmobile were sold at Reed Brothers from roughly 1917 through 1923.
The first advertisement below, distributed by the Oldsmobile Sales Company in the Sunday, June 29, 1919 edition of The Washington Post is the very first ad in which the Rockville Garage appeared. Dealers are listed in fine print at the bottom: note “Rockville Garage, Rockville, Md” which is highlighted in yellow.
1919 Oldsmobile Model 45-B Rockville Garage Ad – The Washington Post – Sunday, June 29, 1919, Washington, District Of Columbia
This is a fun little song recorded in 1909. An Oldsmobile must have been quite the toy when this was recorded. From an old single sided VICTOR RECORD COMPANY 78 rpm record. Enjoy!
Saylorsburg Lake House / Hotel of Horror
Saylorsburg Lake House, circa 1915. Photo by Lewis Reed
In anticipation of Halloween, I thought it would be fun to feature a photograph that Lewis Reed took of Saylorsburg Lake House Hotel, now the site of Hotel of Horror. The old Lake House Hotel, depicted in the photo above taken by Lewis Reed in 1915, was once a vibrant Poconos retreat and a popular hotel for tourists. According to local folklore, during World War II, many of the employees at the Lake House were called to assist in the Pennsylvania National Guard, leaving the local asylum with one lone security guard to watch over the entire building. The inmates escaped, made their way to the hotel and took it over. The insane patients performed experiments on the guests. What was once a renowned resort for the rich and famous, shown here in 2001, became a torture chamber.
The Lake House Hotel in Saylorsburg, site of Hotel of Horror, 2001
Today it’s the site of the Hotel of Horror, a haunted-house attraction open during the Halloween season.
Happy Halloween to all the readers of this blog!
Featured Photo: 1914 Indian Motorcycle With Sidecar
Photo by Lewis Reed
This is a photograph taken by Lewis Reed of an Indian motorcycle with his brother, Edgar, seated in the sidecar next to Uncle Bernie Hanshew. From what I’ve been able to research, I believe it’s a 1914 Indian. The handle bars on a 1913 had no cross bar, the 1914 model had a cross bar that can be seen on this one. The tool box was mounted on the rear of the carrier in 1913 and moved to the top of the fuel tank in 1914. If anyone can help to date or confirm the identity of this machine please leave a comment.
In the early days, motorcycles were a staple of transportation, and both Lewis and Edgar Reed rode them.
Motorcyclists in the 1920s were more likely to wear a tie, goggles, and a sporty little cap than the leather of today.
A 1915 advertisement for the Indian Motocycle (spelling motocycle without the “r”)
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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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