4 Years, 135 Posts & Thank You
Today marks the 4-year anniversary of this blog. It’s been an honor to share the history of Reed Brothers Dodge – whether you’ve read our blog, followed us on Twitter, or “liked” us on Facebook. I would like to thank those mentioned below, and many others, for their kind words and the visibility they have provided.
To help review the past year I thought I’d search around on the Internet and see what others have been saying about us.
Included among the posts on our Facebook page:
“I’m the curator of the Dodge Brothers exhibit at Meadow Brook Hall outside of Detroit…. I’ve been following the great history on your Facebook page and blog for a while”
“Want more information. Please post more!”
Online and in print:
- Norris-Banonis.com Three of Reed Brothers Dodge photographs were featured in the month of May 2015 Norris-Banonis Automotive Wall Calendar which features a 1952 Dodge Coronet. The main part of the calendar features a photograph of Lewis Reed and a small snippet of history.
1915: Lewis Reed opened a Dodge Dealership in Rockville, Maryland. When his brother Edgar returns home from WWI, he gives him 1/3 interest. Eventually, the Reed Brothers will carry Hudson, Oldsmobile, Goodyear Tires, and General Electric Appliances. They will also open the first Gulf brand gasoline station in the area.
At the bottom of the calendar, there is a photo of the 1936 Reed Brothers Dodge canopied Gulf Gas Station and Lewis Reed’s original 1915 Rockville Garage.
- Peerless Rockville: As a part of Peerless Rockville’s “On the Go: Rockville Pike and Car Culture” lecture series, Peerless Rockville Historian, Dr Teresa Lachin offered a glimpse into the history of Reed Brothers Dodge as one of the City’s oldest and longest lasting automobile businesses.
- SR/A Interior Architecture + Design and La Collection: With their reputation for the use of historically referenced materials and detailing, SR/A Interior Architecture and Design of Bethesda embarked on a challenge to pay tribute to a century of history at the Bainbridge Shady Grove Metro Apartments.
- Rockville Nights Blog: http://www.rockvillenights.com/2015/12/sculpture-commemorates-rockvilles.html – posted a blog entitled, “Sculpture commemorates Rockville’s legendary Reed Brothers Dodge (Photos)”
Blog Post Snippet
On National Television!
- History Channel’s American Pickers Hit Reed Brothers Dodge Blog! The television show that’s watched by about 2.7 million people on the History Channel each week found a 1927 photo of Reed Brothers Dodge on our blog and asked permission to use it in one of their episodes. The image was used in Season 7, Episode 34: “Can’t Catch a Break” when Mike and Frank find an old Dodge Brothers sign. Mike explains a bit of the history of the company and he used the photograph during his explanation.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank YOU for stopping by. I appreciate your patronage, whether it be via our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or other social media.
Two Years, 77 Posts & Thank You
Today marks the two-year anniversary of this blog. It’s been an honor to share the history of Reed Brothers Dodge – whether you’ve read our blog, followed us on Twitter, or “liked” us on Facebook. I would like to thank those mentioned below, and many others, for their kind words and the visibility they have provided.
To help review the past year I thought I’d search around on the Internet and see what others have been saying about us.
Included among the posts on our Facebook page:
“… you have a lot of Rockville History on that site!!!!”
Other mentions online and in print:
- Hemmings Daily Blog Four-Links – NYC cop car show, Reed Brothers Dodge history, coachbuilder Mark Nugent, microcars in the Pacific Northwest – posted a photo of of Reed Brothers Dodge and blogged about us. Photo caption:
“Reed Brothers Dodge has been in business in Rockville, Maryland, since 1915, almost as long as Dodge has been around. Unlike most new car dealerships, though, Reed Brothers cares enough about its heritage to have put together a nice website with plenty of vintage photos and history of the dealership.”
Responses to “Four-Links – NYC cop car show, Reed Brothers Dodge history, coachbuilder Mark Nugent, microcars in the Pacific Northwest”
“In the same week where we’re all extremely concerned for Detroit’s historic legacy, I can’t be the only one who felt some comfort…. Comfort that the Reed family valued their dodge dealership’s history enough to hang on to the artifacts and share it all with us. I’m long from my Maryland roots, being posted to London (and still here and happy), and so there was an additional wee bit of poignancy for me and the family.”
“With regard to the Dodge dealership and its 90 year history, it’s too bad that an institution like that can be simply erased by the stroke of a pen. The loss to the people who depended on it for their livelihood and the loss to the community itself is so often never recovered.”
“The Reed Brothers site is about 10 times better than many operating car dealer websites-certainly a sad ending.”
- C Bodies Only Forum – the home for C-Body Platform Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth Automobile Owners. – Reed Brothers Dodge, Rockville, Md.
“There is a remarkable webpage devoted to the history of Reed Brothers Dodge, a dealership in Rockville, Md. that was a Dodge dealer from the very early days until 2009. Ultimately it was a sad story, but the former owners maintained an incredible archive of the family business. Click on the links in the right sidebar titled “Site Navigation” for some incredible pictures.”
“That’s a nice story. Thanks for sharing. That place is near Washington D.C., I’ll have to cruise past and take a picture next time I’m in the area.”
“I love the historical history too Bob. Seriously that is some pretty neat history.”
- The Forward Look Network – The World’s Largest Source of 1955 – 1961 Mopar Info – posted two photos of Reed Brothers Dodge dealership from the 1950s under the “Forwardlooks in old pictures/postcards“
- Classic Mopar Forum.com
Classic Mopar Forum.com
- HudsonJet.net History of Hudson Dealerships: The dealership section is not only dedicated to the dealerships of the Jet years, but all known Hudson dealerships. The site posted a photograph of Rockville Garage. “In business from 1915 thru at least 2013, they sold Hudson from 1917 thru 1921.”
- Just A Car Guy Blog “Dodge, it’s history and 100th year anniversary are here… and a family owned dealership, (3rd generation) owner is blogging about it!”
- The Old Motor Car, online vintage automobile magazine featured a 2-Part series covering the history of Reed Brothers Dodge.
The Reed Brothers – Selling Dodge’s for Ninety-Four Years, Part I
The Reed Brothers – Selling Dodge’s for Ninety-Four Years, Part II
- Norris-Banonis.com I was delighted to provide Kevin Banonis of Norris-Banonis Group with two photographs that will go into the month of May 2015 calendar which features a 1952 Dodge Coronet. One photo is of the 1936 Reed Brothers Dodge canopied Gulf Gas Station and the second photo is of the original 1915 Rockville Garage. Below is a rough draft of what the product will look like. It may change a tiny bit between now and press time but this is pretty much how the finished product will look for the month of May 2015. The printed calendar will be high resolution and will be available for purchase on their website.
And then there’s Twitter…
Reed Brothers received numerous re-tweets and mentions on Twitter,
@reedbrothers welcome, fantastic story about your family dealership, thanks for sharing.
@reedbrothers I am sorry the Chrysler Corporation treated your dealership so unfairly in recent years. I am a local resident of Rockville.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank YOU for stopping by. I appreciate your patronage, whether it be via our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or other social media.
New Milestone: 20K Page Views
Just a quick post with an offering of thanks to all of you who have read this blog. This evening it hit 20,000 page views, a little over 12 months into its creation.
I’m extremely proud of what this blog has accomplished thus far, and I hope to continue reaching new people as time goes on.
I would also like to take this opportunity to offer a special thank you to Hemmings Daily blogger Daniel Strohl, who posted a link to our Historic Timeline on their own blog which helped boost our page views – Four-Links – NYC cop car show, Reed Brothers Dodge history, coachbuilder Mark Nugent, microcars in the Pacific Northwest written by Daniel Strohl June 22, 2013.
Thank you to everyone who visits us from all around the world…we have so far been visited by folks from all fifty of the United States and 114 different countries world wide.
I’m seriously blown away by the momentum this blog has carried in the way of page views over the past few months. But this blog wouldn’t exist, no matter how great the ideals behind it and no matter how much drive I had to share them, if it weren’t for our readers.
One Year, 43 Posts & Thank You
Today marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. Thank you for your patronage, support, and comments over the past year. It’s been an honor to share the history of Reed Brothers Dodge – whether you’ve read our blog, followed us on Twitter, or “liked” us on Facebook. I would like to also thank those mentioned below, and many others, for their kind words and the visibility they have provided.
To help review the past year I thought I’d search around on the Internet and see what others have been saying about us.
Included among the posts on our Facebook page:
National Capital Trolley Museum shared a photo from Lewis Reed’s collection. August 6, 2012. “We’re delighted to see Reed Brothers Dodge History has become a fan of ours on Facebook. Here’s an image of the Reed Brothers themselves riding the trolley to Rockville, about the time the business was founded. Image in collection of, and hosted by, Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation Ltd.”
The Hermitage “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to see a photo of the Pigeon Bridge on Veirs Mill! My dad used to give his parents a heart attack by walking atop the span when he was a kid (he always loved heights). Thank you so much for posting! Keep ’em coming!”
Other mentions online and in print:
- Blog Search Engine posted the following review:
“Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915 – 2012 is a blog dedicated to the family who founded and continue to run the Reed Brothers Dodge, a car dealership in Rockville, Maryland.
This family-run business has been in operation for almost a century, a feat that certainly is not common in the world of business today. More than talking about cars, dealership, and business, this blog also brings history alive. The blog is run by Jeanne Gartner, the granddaughter of Lewis Reed, the founder of the business.
She continues to keep the memory of her predecessors alive by documenting the past. Reading the blog is like taking a walk down history. Not only do you get to learn about firsts in the business, but you also get to take a peek into the lives of those who have gone before us.
It’s a family memoir of sorts, but you also see a story that is worth to be read by everyone.”
- The Montgomery County Historical Society (Maryland) listed our blog under the History & Resources section of their website, entitled “Other Local History on the Web“.
- Joanna Church, Director of Collections and author of “A Fine Collection”, the official blog of the Montgomery County Historical Society (Maryland), credited an historic photo by Lewis Reed on her post Railroad “Quarterly Commutation Ticket,” 1915
- At the Beall-Dawson House February 2 – May 5, 2013, The Montgomery County Historical Society presented an exhibit, “History, Memory, Artifact, Art: Photographs of Everyday Life” which included many of Lewis Reed’s photos and original negatives.
- Maryland Automobile Dealers Association: A photograph of Lewis Reed and his Rockville Garage has been printed on page 4 of the FALL 2010 edition of MADAs “In Gear“ publication. The photo was taken in 1916 showing two of the original owners of the Rockville Garage — Lewis Reed and Griffith Warfield. The full photograph is shown again at the top of page 14 with all three of the original owners. The photo is also displayed at the top of Maryland Automobile Dealers Association’s home page.
- The website Gaithersburg: Then & Now authored by local historian Shaun Curtis placed a link to “Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915-2012″ blog under the Local Historic Sites & Information section of their website.
- Peerless Rockville has placed a link to “Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915-2012” blog under the Resources section of their website.
- Blog Catalog Review: “Interesting blog with wonderful historic photos and a well-written chronicle of a successful automotive franchise that began in Maryland in the early 20th-century and continues today. Even if you’ve never been to Rockville or Maryland, you can appreciate the photos and history, a snapshot of America.”
- The following is an excerpt taken from the Summer 2011 edition, page 6 of the Montgomery County Historical Society Newsletter. “The Sween Library was recently given a collection of 280 glass plate negatives, showing Montgomery County in the early 20th century. Lewis Reed was a well-known photographer in the county as well as owner (along with his brother Edgar) of Reed Brothers, the Rockville automobile dealership. The collection was donated to the Society by Mr. Reed’s daughter, Mary Jane Reed Gartner. There are scenes of different areas of the county, buildings, events such as the county fair, and local people. These are a welcomed addition to our growing graphics collection.”
And then there’s Twitter…
Reed Brothers received numerous re-tweets and mentions on Twitter, the most notable from the official Twitter feed of the Montgomery County Police Department on a photo of the first known picture of the entire MCPD at a Celebration on July 4, 1922 in front of Reed Brothers Dodge.
@mcpnews – We love this photo! Thank You for sharing!
@Tri-Auto – Big shoutout to @reedbrothers for posting so many cool historical things.
@BoundaryStones, WETA’s Local History Blog – Nice snippet of early auto history in #MoCo, . Like many dealerships, @reedbrothers grew out of existing garage.
@BoundaryStones, WETA’s Local History Blog – @reedbrothers Nice local history blog!
A heartfelt note to all those who have stopped in for a look and a read.
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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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