Tag Archive | Maryland
October 7, 2024  

Then & Now: Monrovia Post Office

This post is a continuation of a series of “Then & Now” images from Lewis Reed’s Photo Collection alongside photographs of how they appear today. Lewis Reed worked hard to preserve a visual history of Montgomery County, Maryland and surrounding areas long before automobiles were even around. As early as 1905, he toured on his motorcycle across the states of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. and took photographs of many historic locations. Taken approximately 114 years apart, you can see how the Post Office of Monrovia Maryland looks almost the same from over a century ago.

Monrovia Post Office (THEN): On November 15, 1901, the Monrovia Post Office was one of the first places in the U.S. to participate in the Rural Free Delivery (RFD) experiment established by the U.S. Post Office. RFD was established on an experimental basis in 1896. In 1902, it became an official part of the Post Office Department’s services.

Monrovia Post Office, 1910

Monrovia Post Office, 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed

Monrovia Post Office (NOW): The little village of Monrovia is today not much more than an underpass, a post office, and a few abandoned buildings. The old post office building is now an Office Park area in Monrovia.

Monrovia Post Office

This google image of Monrovia Post Office today is still very recognizable.

Source: Wikipedia
First RDF Maryland

September 27, 2021  

Bromo-Seltzer Tower: Then & Now

Baltimore and the surrounding area sure has changed a lot in its centuries-long history. But many traditions and landmarks from decades ago are still around today, give or take a few variations. 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”. In the following photographs, you can see the difference 100 years can make.

So… you’re the inventor of a popular headache remedy living in the city of Baltimore around 1910. You have a factory on Lombard Street, a few blocks from the harbor. You want to create something memorable for the city. Of course, you also want to promote that headache remedy…

What do you do?

If you are Captain Isaac Emerson, inventor of Bromo-Seltzer, you hire a well-known architect and build a massive clock tower next to your factory.

Bromo-Seltzer Tower (THEN): When it was built in 1911, the 15-story Emerson Tower—better known locally as the Bromo-Seltzer Tower—was the tallest building in Baltimore. The tower was inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, and took its name from Captain Isaac Edward Emerson, the inventor of Bromo-Seltzer, a popular cure for headaches and indigestion. Until 1936, the tower was topped by a 51-foot illuminated Bromo-Seltzer bottle that was supposedly visible from twenty miles away.

Bromo-Seltzer Tower 1914

Bromo-Seltzer Tower, Baltimore, Maryland. Photo by Lewis Reed, 1914

Bromo-Seltzer Tower (NOW): The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower has been transformed into studio spaces for visual and literary artists. Inside the Tower is the Emerson/Maryland Glass Museum which houses the largest collection of Bromo Seltzer and Maryland Glass bottles in existence. The Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Bromo Seltzer Tower

Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower today

 

February 19, 2015  

Featured Photo: Market Street, Frederick, MD circa 1915

Lewis Reed taking photograph (from left: Lewis Reed’s motorcycle, Edgar Reed, unknown person, Bernard Hanshaw, unknown child, unknown man) in front of Greenawalt Drug Store on Market Street in Frederick, MD circa 1915

Lewis Reed taking photograph (from left: Lewis Reed’s motorcycle, Edgar Reed, unknown person, Bernard Hanshaw, unknown child, unknown man) in front of Greenawalt Drug Store on Market Street in Frederick, MD circa 1915

Things look pretty quiet in front of Greenawalt Drug Store on Market Street in Frederick, Maryland on this day some 100 years ago. Lewis Reed was not only passionate about automobiles, he also enjoyed riding motorcycles and photography.

In the early days, motorcycles were a staple of transportation, and both Lewis and Edgar Reed rode Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Motorcyclists in the 1900s were more likely to wear a tie and sporty little cap than the leather of today.