Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays!
Santa’s Dodge Truck
I would like to take this time to wish all the readers who find time in their hectic schedule to visit this blog a very Happy Holiday Season. Wherever your holiday celebration takes you, I wish all of you a safe, relaxing time spent with family and friends.
Business longevity is something to celebrate and share, and it’s an absolute honor and privilege for me to share the history of Reed Brothers Dodge with all of you!
To all of you who have stopped in to visit , whatever your faith, wherever you live – Happy Holidays,
~Jeanne
Lewis Reed Photos: Rockville’s First Water Tower
1906 historic view of Rockville Maryland’s first pipestem water tower. (1897-1946)
Photograph by Lewis Reed, founder of Reed Brothers Dodge
This 1906 photograph taken by Lewis Reed depicts Rockville Maryland’s very first water tower. I wanted to share this photograph, because it offers a visual history for its role in the development of public utilities in the City of Rockville. My grandfather picked up the hobby of photography even before automobiles were around. He was a well-known photographer in the county and many of his early photographs are now part of the Montgomery County Historical Society photo archives.
View of Rockville Water Tower and Baltimore Road B&O Railroad Crossing circa 1909. Photo by Lewis Reed
Another view of Rockville Water Tower. Photo by Lewis Reed
The pipestem tower was an element of the 1897 pumping station known as the “Rockville Electric Lights and Water Works,” located in Rockville Park and the future Croydon Park. In the 1890s, Rockville grew both as a resort and as a town. With substantial residential appeal, the need for services grew. In about 1899, Rockville got its first water tower at a cost of about $20,000. Its construction signaled the dawn of local municipal water service. Prior to the tower’s construction water in the city was primarily drawn from private wells. Concern for water quality in the 1880s led to the decision to develop a municipal system. The stand pipe was a typical shape for a water tower at the turn of the century. From this high point, water could be piped throughout the town. The chimney stack originally extended to a height of 50’, as documented in the Sanborn maps 1908, 1915.
Rockville Pump House, circa 1912. Photo by Lewis Reed
Built in 1879, the Pump House at Croydon Park is a historic building in Rockville and the site of the first municipal water supply. Once known as the “Rockville Electric Lights & Water Works.” the building was the City’s first public water system and supplier of electricity for street lights and private homes.
Sources:
National Register of Historic Places, Rockville Pumping Station
Peerless Rockville
Rockville Nights: Sculpture commemorates Rockville’s legendary Reed Brothers Dodge (Photos)
I would like to take this opportunity to offer a special thank you to Rockville Nights blogger Robert Dyer, for sending new visitors our way via a link on his blog post: http://www.rockvillenights.com/2015/12/sculpture-commemorates-rockvilles.html.
Source: Rockville Nights: Sculpture commemorates Rockville’s legendary Reed Brothers Dodge (Photos)
November 14, 1914: The First Dodge Car
Horace Dodge (left rear) and John Dodge (right rear) in “Old Betsy” in front of John Dodge’s Boston Boulevard home, 14 November 1914.
One hundred and one years ago on this date –November 14, 1914 — the very first Dodge car, “Old Betsy”, rolled off the assembly line. On that day, the Dodge Brothers (Horace and John) were photographed riding in the rear seat of the first car to bear their last name. It cost $785, had a 110-inch wheelbase, and was powered by an L-head 4-cylinder engine that proved so reliable it was continued until 1920 with very little modification. Total production for 1914 was a mere 249 touring cars. The following year. Dodge offered a two-passenger roadster which also sold for $785 and the plant went into full production.
According to “The Dodge Brothers: The Men, the Motor Cars, and the Legacy” by Charles K. Hyde, here’s the full story:
The widely accepted history of the initial production of early Dodge Brothers automobiles in November 1914 is at odds with much of the evidence about the earliest Dodge Brothers cars. Automotive historians have thought that the first production car, later named “Old Betsy,” came off the assembly line at the Hamtramck factory on 14 November 1914. Guy Ameel, superintendent of final assembly for Dodge Brothers since the start of automobile production, served as John and Horace’s chauffeur that day. With the brothers in the back seat, Ameel stopped the first Dodge Brothers car in front of John Dodge’s mansion on Boston Boulevard in Detroit and a photographer recorded this important moment.
“Old Betsy” was more likely an experimental prototype car assembled several months before 14 November 1914 and not a production car at all…
The Dodge Brothers began an aggressive advertising campaign to promote their new automobiles and to attract potential dealers to sell their cars. Few people jumped onto the Dodge Brothers bandwagon earlier than Lewis Reed, and not many have lasted longer. Lewis Reed was an enterprising young man who put his future in the fledgling automobile industry. In 1915 he received his franchise to sell Dodge Brothers Motor Cars from John and Horace Dodge; less than one year after “Old Betsy” rolled off the assembly line. Lewis Reed and his brother Edgar, were the first to sell Dodge cars in Montgomery County, Maryland. That made Reed Brothers the oldest Dodge dealership under the same family ownership in Maryland, and one of the oldest in the entire nation.
The Beginning of Dodge | Chrysler Historical Video
Source: “The Dodge Brothers: The Men, the Motor Cars, and the Legacy“
Pickin’ a Blog!
Do you watch the History Channel TV show “American Pickers”? Don’t know what a picker is? Not familiar with the show? Well, the show follows Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they travel across the country looking for rare artifacts and national treasures. Hitting back roads from coast to coast, the two men earn a living by restoring forgotten relics to their former glory, transforming one person’s trash into another’s treasure.
And, the television show that’s watched by about 2.7 million people on the History Channel each week picked Reed Brothers Dodge History blog!
The archivist for “American Pickers” found a 1923 photo of Reed Brothers Dodge on our blog and asked permission to use it in one of their upcoming 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.
Below are images extracted from the American Pickers “Can’t Catch A Break” video.
Click the link below to view the American Pickers full episode. The actual Dodge Brothers sign segment starts at 18:37.
http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers/videos/cant-catch-a-break
American Pickers: Can’t Catch a Break
Books
Related Resources
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 
Recent Comments