108 Years Ago at Rockville High School
1911 Originally known as Montgomery County High School, later as Rockville High School. Photo by Lewis Reed
In honor of this year’s commencement, here is a look back at some 1910 class photos from Montgomery County High School that were taken by Lewis Reed. This is a collection of group photos of school children, some with the teacher, taken in 1910 from Montgomery County High School (Old Rockville High School). I wanted to share these photographs, because they offer a visual history of a part of Rockville’s past taken more than 100 years ago.
Most of the photos are labeled with only the year, so if you have corrections to the names or can identify other individuals, please contact me or leave a comment below. Several students have been identified by the Montgomery County Historical Society, which I have included.
In this era, students from grades one through eleven attended the public school at Montgomery Avenue and Monroe Street. Named Montgomery County High School with the addition of upper grades in 1892, as the school board opened other facilities it became Rockville High School and then, in 1935, Richard Montgomery High School. Students came to the school by train, trolley, and later by school bus from all corners of the county.
Step back in time into a much simpler past and get a look at class photos of Rockville High School students from over 108 years ago. As always, click the photos to get a better look. Some of the expressions on these students faces are priceless!
Old Rockville High School class c. 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Back row: Edward Story, Lena Ricketts, Tom Young, Louise Larcombe, Miss Ford, Fred Hays, Lucius Lamar, name unknown, name unknown.
Middle Row: name unknown, name unknown, Jesse Wathen, Jesse Higgins, name unknown, name unknown, Mary Hyatt, name unknown, name unknown.
Front Row: Maude England, Rebecca Lamar, (first name unknown) Garrett, Helen Pumphrey, (first name unknown) Lehman.
Old Rockville High School graduates 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Back: Harry Beall, Katherine Hughes.
Middle: names unknown
Front: Edith Prettyman, (first name unknown) Darby
Old Rockville High School First Baseball Team 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Front: Billy Beck, Tom Young, Ed Storey, Harry Beall, Roy Warfield.
Back: (first name unknown) Hicks, Lucius Lamar, name unknown, name unknown, Jesse Higgins, name unknown, name unknown, Fred Hays, Roger Whiteford.
Holding pennant: Griffith Warfield
Montgomery County High School 1910
Montgomery County High School 1910
Montgomery County High School 1910
Montgomery County High School 1910
New Blog Feature: Then & Now
Looking back at photography from the past is a fascinating experience for me, and with a newfound interest in history, it occurred to me that with the vast number of historical photographs in Lewis Reed’s Collection, that this blog would be a great place to feature a series of Then & Now photography. I started doing this about a year ago as a research tool, now I mostly do it because of my passion for history and fascination with the subject. With that in mind, I will occasionally be spotlighting some “Then & Now” images from his collection that will show photographs of buildings, street scenes, and other historical locales alongside photographs of how they appear today.
Some of the historic locations in this series includes the Smithsonian, Capitol, Union Station, Old Post Office, Library of Congress, Raleigh Hotel, Key Bridge and other important sites in and around the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. area. There are also photographs of many non-Maryland locations including the historic landmark “Lucy the Elephant”, Gettysburg Battlefield, Mount Vernon, Pennsylvania Monument and United States Regulars Monuments under construction, and Quebec Bridge (the 8th Wonder of the World).
I have no formal history training, just a general interest in local history where I grew up. I will post one of Lewis Reed’s photographs matched with a corresponding contemporary shot of the same area, and supply a few sentences of context. All of them will in some way will offer a visual history of how things have changed over the years. I look forward to sharing them with you.
Old Rockville High School First Baseball Team, 1910
Old Rockville High School First Baseball Team, 1910. Photo by Lewis Reed
Front: Billy Beck, Tom Young, Ed Storey, Harry Beall, Roy Warfield.
Back: (first name unknown) Hicks, Lucius Lamar, name unknown, name unknown, Jesse Higgins, name unknown, name unknown, Fred Hays, Roger Whiteford.
Holding pennant: Griffith Warfield
The Montgomery County Historical Society was able to identify several people in the photograph. If anyone can help put a name to a face, please leave a comment.
Warning For Driving Faster Than a Walk
Photo by Lewis Reed
This undated photograph from Lewis Reed’s Collection evokes a sense of nostalgia for slower-paced times. Literally slower: The sign over the bridge entrance reads – “$10 fine for driving faster than a walk” — quite a hit to the money pouch in those days.
A Family Photo Postcard Jackpot
Postcard front was taken by Lewis Reed at Pope’s Creek Maryland on the Potomac River ca. 1915
Postcard addressed to Ethlene Thomas from L. Reed. Note the cost of the postage stamp is just one penny.
Lewis Reed’s albums contain several hundred of these photo postcards dating from approximately 1907-1915. What makes this particular photo postcard so special is, it was sent from Lewis Reed to Ethlene Thomas. Lewis Reed married the former Ethlene Thomas of Frederick County on June 15, 1920. This is a real photo postcard — one in which the photographic paper on which the photo was developed was itself then sent as the postcard. The stamp is a one penny stamp with the image of Benjamin Franklin. The Benjamin Franklin series stamp was issued by the U.S. Post Office between 1908 and 1922.
What I love about the address is how it’s addressed merely to “Miss Ethlene Thomas, New Market, Frederick Co, MD. I have a feeling, however, that the postcard would have found it’s way even had “New Market” been left off the card.
The card reads:
Dear Friend,
You can look for me Friday afternoon between 6 and 7 o’clock or sooner, if it is not raining. I will be there sooner if I can.
As ever, L. Reed
Kodak made photo paper in standard 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 postcard size with “Post Card” printed on the back. Lewis Reed developed all of his own photographs. He had a darkroom in his house — in the kitchen, to be exact — and worked at night to develop the negatives. This gave him the ability to take the paper into his dark room and produce a real photo postcard. This one is definitely a treasure.
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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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