Then & Now: Quebec Bridge (8th Wonder of the World)
The Quebec Bridge (Pont de Québec in French) has been an icon of Canada for more than a century. But did you know that the Quebec Bridge collapsed twice (1907 & 1916) before it was completed, making it the world’s worst bridge construction disaster. Taken approximately 90 years apart, these photos show the Quebec Bridge (8th Wonder of the World) then and now.
Quebec Bridge (THEN): Hailed at the time as the 8th wonder of the world, the Quebec Bridge was the first bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. Accommodating three highway lanes, one rail line and a pedestrian walkway, it represented a colossal challenge to construct at the time. First conceived in 1887, the bridge collapsed failed twice, at the cost of 88 lives, and took over 30 years to complete. A riveted steel truss structure, the Quebec Bridge is the longest cantilever bridge span in the world. The Quebec Bridge was declared a historic monument in 1987 by the Canadian and American Society of Civil Engineers, and on January 24, 1996, the bridge was declared a National Historic Site of Canada.
Quebec Bridge (8th Wonder of the World). Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1930
Quebec Bridge (NOW): The same view almost 90 years later. The bridge remains in use to this day, carrying both road and rail traffic. rails in the middle and roadways on both sides.
Night view of the Quebec Bridge, today. Photo credit: Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
Then & Now: Rockville Fair Dirt Track Oval
The black and white photograph of the Rockville Fair auto races below was taken by Lewis Reed in 1923. The photograph was from the first incarnation of the Fair, held by the Montgomery County Agricultural Society (1846-1932) in Rockville and often known simply as the “Rockville Fair.” For this “Then & Now” feature, I have combined Lewis Reed’s original photograph for “then” and matched it with a corresponding contemporary shot for “now” to see how the location has changed throughout almost 95 years.
Rockville Fair Dirt Track Oval (THEN): 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. Harness racing was one of the main attractions, but after the introduction of the automobile in the early 20th century, car races took over. The fairgrounds were just outside Rockville, where Richard Montgomery High School is today.
Crowds at the auto racetrack, Rockville Fair, August 1923. Photo by Lewis Reed
Rockville Fair Dirt Track Oval (NOW): In 1946, after the construction of Richard Montgomery High School, the old oval race track became a football field and stadium.
Richard Montgomery High School football field and stadium today
Featured Photo: Buffalo Zoo Bear Pits, Early 1920s
Buffalo Zoo Bear Pits, Buffalo, New York, ca. early 1920s. Note the car in the photo is mostly open-bodied, with no windows and certainly no heat. Tire chains are on the rear tires. I cannot say with any certainty, but I believe it is Lewis Reed’s car with his wife and baby daughter, Mary Jane, sitting inside all bundled up. Photo by Lewis Reed.
Founded in 1875, the Buffalo Zoo, located at 300 Parkside Ave in Buffalo, New York, is the third oldest zoo in the United States and is the second largest tourist attraction in Western New York; second only to Niagara Falls. The zoo traces its history to the mid-19th century when Jacob E. Bergtold, a Buffalo furrier, presented a pair of deer to the city of Buffalo. Five years after the deer were donated, more animals were added to the collection, and the first permanent building was erected, signifying the establishment of the Buffalo Zoological Gardens in 1875.
From this simple gift would grow the earliest origins of the Zoo, still operating on the same spot as that original 1871 Deer Paddock. A pair of bison and eight elk were added to the animal collection in 1895, and a zoo curator was hired the same year. Two years later, the bear pits, designed to look like Roman ruins, were built as the zoo we now know was beginning to take shape.
Source: Wikipedia
Rockville Garage Hudson Motor Car Ads (1919-1920)
The advertisements in this post do more than just simply pitch a product, they capture a moment in history. A moment in history when Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage 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.
Hudson introduced the Essex brand in 1919. The Essex was intended to compete with Ford and Chevrolet for budget-minded buyers. The Essex offered one of the first affordable sedans and by 1925 the combined Hudson and Essex sales made Hudson the third largest automobile manufacturer in the United States.
Prior to the advent of television and radio advertising, print media was the most popular form of advertising and most car ads were black and white. The following ads distributed by the Lambert Automobile Company in The Baltimore Sun newspaper advertises the Hudson and Essex automobiles.
In addition to franchise car dealers, there were also factory stores. In the early days, the factory stores did the national advertising. A factory store, also known as a branch store or branch dealer, was a dealership owned and run by the manufacturer. A list of area Dealers was placed in fine print at the bottom of the ads. Rockville Garage, Rockville, Md, is highlighted in yellow on each of these ads.
The Baltimore Sun 2 March 1919
By the 1920s, Hudson and Essex Motor Car advertisements featured elegant architectural borders with static drawings of their cars; some ads never pictured people during this period.
The Baltimore Sun 30 May 1920
The Baltimore Sun 29 Aug 1920
The Baltimore Sun 25 Jan 1920
The Baltimore Sun 24 Oct 1920
The Baltimore Sun 21 Nov 1920
The Baltimore Sun 17 Oct 1920
The Baltimore Sun 13 Jun 1920
The Baltimore Sun 10 Oct 1920
The Baltimore Sun 1 Feb 1920
The Baltimore Sun 3 Oct 1920
The Baltimore Sun 28 Mar 1920
The Baltimore Sun 30 Sep 1920
The Baltimore Sun 5 Mar 1922
A lot of old newspapers have found their way online and with digital archival, it’s easier to take a trip back through old newspapers than ever before. These ads were found on NewspaperARCHIVE.com, the largest historical newspaper database online.
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
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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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