Then & Now: Saylorsburg Lake House & Hotel of Horror
With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to feature a photograph that Lewis Reed took of the Saylorsburg Lake House Hotel, now the site of Hotel of Horror. The aging Lake House Hotel in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, once a vibrant Poconos retreat, was a popular hotel for the region’s tourists who were looking for fun on nearby Saylors Lake. During the hotel’s heyday, its staff was booking rooms a year in advance. Today, the former hotel’s fame is generated from its annual Halloween haunted-house attraction.
Lake House Hotel (THEN): The legend of the Lake House Hotel spans more than two-hundred years. 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, became a torture chamber.
Saylorsburg Lake House Hotel. Photo taken by Lewis Reed, 1915.
Hotel of Horror (NOW): This 2019 season will celebrate the 27th year that the Hotel of Horror has been fascinating and horrifying legions of fans from the far reaches of the United States and even internationally. To all the readers of this blog: Have a spooky, enjoyable and very safe Halloween!
Welcome to The Hotel of Horror, The Pocono Mountains Premier Haunted House Attraction
75 Years Ago: Fire Destroys Barns on Rockville Farm
Seventy five years ago, from the pages of The Washington Evening Star newspaper for the first week of September 1944.
Members of the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department fought a fire on the farm of Mrs. Rose Veirs, a mile and a half west of Rockville, which destroyed three bars, a silo, livestock and grain. Barn and brush fires were very difficult to control and complete loss of the buildings or fields was usually inevitable. This was the case with Mrs. Rose Veirs who lost three barns, a silo, livestock and grain in a fire in 1944. The farm was associated for 70 years with the prominent Rockville family, the Veirs.
These previously unpublished photographs taken by Lewis Reed show scenes during the fire and extent of the damage.
Fire destroys building on the farm of Mrs Rose Veirs. Photo by Lewis Reed.
From The Evening Star, September 07, 1944:
$25,000 Damage Done As Volunteer Firemen Fight Blaze for 5 Hours
Three barns and a silo were leveled, 2 horses and 7 calves were killed and 1,500 bushels of barley and 115 tons of hay were destroyed last night by fire on the 250-acre farm of Mrs Rose Veirs, a mile and a half west of Rockville, Md. Damage was estimated at $25,000 and was partially covered by insurance.
Four pumpers and a rescue wagon from the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department and two pumpers from the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department fought the blaze for five hours, although handicapped by a lack of water.
A small pond was drained, and the pumpers went back to Rockville several times for water. A pump on the property was put to work, but the fire had too far advanced to save the buildings.
L.M. Kennedy, foreman on the farm, discovered the fire about 8:10 p.m. J. Vinson Peter, son-in-law of Mrs, Veirs, manages the farm and gave the estimate of damage.
Fire destroys building on the farm of Mrs Rose Veirs. Photo by Lewis Reed.
Organized with 51 men in 1921, the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department now has a diverse complement of over 270 volunteers supported by almost 100 Montgomery County career firefighters. The call volume has increased tremendously over the years, from the 1920’s where the Department responded to about 200 incidents a year to the present, where they responded to over 25,000 incidents in 2017.
Then & Now: State of Pennsylvania Monument (Gettysburg)
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”. The Pennsylvania State Memorial is a monument in Gettysburg National Military Park that commemorates the 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers who fought in the July 1 to 3, 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. These photos show the same view taken about 109 years apart.
State of Pennsylvania Monument (THEN): This rare photograph was taken by Lewis Reed of the State of Pennsylvania Monument while under construction. Completed in 1914, it is the largest of the state monuments on the Gettysburg Battlefield. Taken approximately 109 years apart, these photos show the State of Pennsylvania Monument then and now.
State of Pennsylvania Monument Under Construction, ca. 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
State of Pennsylvania Monument (NOW): The State of Pennsylvania Monument (at 110 feet tall) incorporates individual sculptures commemorating the six Keystone State generals who fought at Gettysburg — plus President Abraham Lincoln and Governor Andrew Curtain — and 90 bronze plaques emblazoned with the names of each of the 34,530 Pennsylvanians who fought in the battle. It cost $240,000 to build in the early 1900s, or almost $6 million in 2018.
State of Pennsylvania Monument as it is today.
Source: Wikipedia
Then & Now: Computing Tabulating Recording Company (aka IBM)
It might feel like things are always changing in Washington DC. There are always new buildings being built, businesses closing and with every few years. But you might not realize how much Washington DC has changed until you look back at what it looked like in the past. In this “Then & Now” feature, I have combined one of Lewis Reed’s original photograph’s for “then” and matched it with a google street view image for “now”. Taken approximately 108 years apart, these photos show Hollerith’s Plant then and now.
THEN: Before becoming interested in automobiles, Lewis Reed was one of the original employees of the Computing Tabulating Recording Company, a Georgetown-based manufacturing firm that eventually became International Business Machines, Inc. The Tabulating Machine Company was formed by Hermann Hollerith in 1896 and merged to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911. Seen in the photo below, the two-story building housed Hollerith’s card manufacturing plant, assembly plant, repair shop and development laboratory. Hollerith later incorporated his business as the Tabulating Machine Company. It was consolidated into the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. in 1911, and was renamed International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.
Hollerith’s Plant 1911. Photo by Lewis Reed
NOW: Today the U.S. technology sector is inextricably linked with the West Coast, but the history of data processing actually traces back to an unassuming brick factory in Washington, D.C. This was the Georgetown headquarters of the Tabulating Machine Company, an early analog computer manufacturer that you may know by the contemporary moniker IBM. IBM placed a historical plaque on the corner of the building by 31st Street and the Canal. Hollerith is also buried nearby in the Oak Hill Cemetery.
Front of the old Tabulating Machine Company on 31st Street today
Tabulating Machine Company Delivery Truck. Note that the writing on the side of the truck is in reverse… I have no idea why. Photo by Lewis Reed
The following photographs are interior images.
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
Source: IBM Archives
Then & Now: Rockville Garage 102 Years Ago
Reed Brothers Dodge and the surrounding area sure has changed a lot in its almost century-long history. You might not realize how much things have changed until you look back and see what it looked like in the past. For this post, I have used one of Lewis Reed’s original photographs for “then” and a Google Maps street view image from today for “now”.
THEN: The photo below is the Rockville Garage located at its original location at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. In 1917, Reed Brothers became an authorized Texaco Filling Station and sold Texaco gasoline from a single pump. To the right is a Texaco Gasoline Filling Station sign. One very tall Texaco branded fuel pump can be seen in this photo along with two Texaco Petroleum refueling trucks. Parked in front is a line-up of some very early Dodge Brothers Motor Cars.
Note the unpaved dirt road on Rockville Pike and trolley tracks running past the dealership. From 1900-1935, the trolley cars went past Reed Brothers Dodge as they traveled up Rockville Pike. Major stops along the line included Georgetown, Alta Vista, Bethesda, Montrose, Halpine, the Fairgrounds, Courthouse Square, and Chestnut Lodge.
1917 Original Rockville Garage with 2 story addition. Note the Texaco Filling Station signage and the Texaco Petroleum fuel truck refilling the single pump in front. Photo by Lewis Reed
NOW: The “now” photo is a google maps image of the same location… 102 years later. The dealership’s location today is now known as Veterans Park. In the 1970s the site was known as the Francis Scott Key Memorial Park, and later in 1988, it was permanently rededicated as Veterans Park. In the late 1960s, the state of Maryland acquired the land to widen 355 and donated the remaining sliver to the City. The state named the connector street behind the dealership’s location “Dodge Street” because Reed Brothers Dodge dealership was located there for more than 50 years. New pavement has long since replaced the trolley tracks on Rockville Pike in this photo.
Reed Brothers Dodge original location at the triangle today. Google Image, 2019.
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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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