Tag Archive | Rockville History

Before Trick-or-Treating: Lewis Reed’s Photographs Capture Halloween in Early Montgomery County

Homemade masks, autumn parties, practical jokes and an eerie clown on horseback reveal how Marylanders celebrated Halloween more than a century ago.

Long before Montgomery County neighborhoods filled with porch lights, plastic pumpkins and children carrying bags of candy, Halloween had a very different look.

There were no inflatable ghosts covering front lawns. Costumes were more likely to be assembled at home than purchased in a store. And the familiar ritual of children traveling door to door calling “trick or treat” had not yet become the centerpiece of the holiday.

Fortunately, we can still catch glimpses of that earlier Halloween.

Among the many photographs taken by Lewis Reed of Montgomery County, Maryland, are several remarkable images associated with Halloween celebrations of the early 20th century. Reed is better known locally as the founder of Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville, but long before and throughout his years in business, he was also an enthusiastic photographer who recorded the people, places and everyday life around him.

His Halloween photographs open a small window onto a holiday that was still evolving into the celebration we recognize today.

A Mask Was Sometimes All You Needed

early 20th century Halloween

Halloween preparations, circa 1914. These women pose with homemade masks for an upcoming celebration. Photograph by Lewis Reed.

One of Reed’s photographs, dating to about 1914, shows women holding simple masks in preparation for Halloween. To modern eyes, the scene may hardly look like “costumes” at all. That is precisely what makes the photograph so interesting.

Early 20th-century Halloween celebrations retained much of the atmosphere of the masquerade. Revelers might wear ordinary clothing accompanied by a mask, hat or other homemade disguise rather than dress from head to toe as a recognizable character. Manufactured Halloween costumes became increasingly available during the following decades.

The photograph captures that transition almost perfectly: familiar people made mysterious for an evening by little more than a mask.

It also reminds us how much of Halloween once depended upon imagination rather than merchandise.

Halloween Was a Social Occasion

early 20th Century Halloween

Family and friends gathered for a Halloween celebration more than a century ago. The homemade masks and disguises give the photograph an unmistakably eerie quality. Photograph by Lewis Reed.

Another Reed photograph preserves a Halloween gathering from roughly the same period.

The faces, masks and unusual assortment of hats can look surprisingly unsettling today. But Halloween parties were popular social occasions, particularly among teenagers and adults.

Period newspaper accounts describe homes decorated with autumn leaves, flowers, lanterns and orange-and-black decorations. Games might be followed by music and dancing, often with plenty of refreshments before the evening ended. Contemporary Halloween menus included familiar seasonal favorites such as pumpkin pie and molasses cookies, alongside dishes that would seem decidedly less familiar today.

The emphasis was on gathering together.

Halloween was not yet overwhelmingly a children’s holiday. Historical accounts of the period note that modern door-to-door trick-or-treating had not become the dominant American custom it would later become.

Newspapers Help Fill in What the Camera Could Not

Lewis Reed’s photographs freeze individual moments, but newspapers from the same years help bring the scenes to life.

Stores advertised masks, costumes and masquerade supplies as Halloween approached. Society columns reported parties and sometimes even identified the guests who attended them. Recipes appeared for Halloween refreshments.

And then there were the warnings.

Early 20th Century Halloween

The Evening Star, October 31, 1916

Because Halloween had another longstanding tradition: mischief.

Young revelers were expected to engage in a certain amount of harmless trouble, but communities did not always agree about what qualified as harmless.

An October 31, 1916 edition of The Evening Star, for example, carried warnings concerning Halloween pranks. Among the activities attracting unwanted attention was the practice of throwing flour.

Imagine answering your front door on Halloween evening and receiving a handful of flour instead of handing out a miniature candy bar.

The past can seem very distant until a newspaper reports exactly what people were worried about on an ordinary Tuesday night.

From Mischief to Community Celebration

As the new century progressed, communities increasingly tried to channel Halloween mischief into organized entertainment.

Parties, civic events and parades offered a way to turn Halloween into a community occasion rather than an evening of overturned objects, practical jokes and property damage. By the 1920s, Halloween was gradually assuming more of the organized, public character that would help shape later celebrations.

And somewhere along the way, Lewis Reed pointed his camera at one of the strangest Halloween figures in his collection.

The Clown on Horseback

Early 20th Century Halloween

A masked clown wearing dark glasses rides horseback during an early Halloween parade or celebration. The location is unknown. Photograph by Lewis Reed.

Few historic photographs require as little explanation as this one.

A clown sits astride a horse.

He wears an elaborate costume, an oversized collar, a pointed hat and round dark glasses.

More than a century after the shutter clicked, the photograph somehow manages to be humorous, theatrical and just a little unnerving at the same time.

Unfortunately, the location has not been identified. But that uncertainty is part of the fascination of working with a historic photograph collection. Not every image arrives with a caption. Sometimes the photograph survives while the names, date and circumstances slowly disappear.

What remains is the moment itself.

And in this case, it is a wonderfully peculiar piece of Halloween history.

Lewis Reed’s Camera Preserved Everyday History

Lewis Reed did not photograph only important ceremonies or prominent citizens. His camera also recorded farms, roads, automobiles, businesses, family gatherings, community events and seemingly ordinary moments throughout Montgomery County.

That breadth is what makes his photographs so valuable today.

A picture of several people preparing masks for a party probably did not seem historically significant when the photograph was made. Neither did a group posing at a Halloween gathering.

But more than a century later, such photographs allow us to study things that official histories rarely preserve: what people wore, how they entertained themselves, what their homes looked like and how traditions changed from one generation to the next.

Montgomery History today uses Lewis Reed photographs in interpreting the county’s early 20th-century past, including images documenting major community events and institutions.

Even Reed’s seasonal photographs extend beyond Halloween. One surviving image shows men gathering pumpkins in Thomas Kelley’s field near Pleasant Hills in the Darnestown area during the early 1900s, preserving another small piece of Montgomery County’s autumn past.

Thomas Kelley’s field near Pleasant Hills, Darnestown

Men gathering pumpkins in Thomas Kelley’s field near Pleasant Hills in the Darnestown area, early 1900s. Lewis Reed’s photographs preserved not only community celebrations, but also the seasonal traditions of everyday life in Montgomery County. Photograph by Lewis Reed.

Halloween Changes. Photographs Remain.

Halloween has changed enormously since Lewis Reed raised his camera more than a century ago.

Masks became full costumes. Homemade disguises gave way to mass-produced characters. Mischief nights gradually yielded to organized community celebrations. Trick-or-treating became an American childhood tradition, and Halloween grew into one of the country’s most recognizable holidays.

But look closely at Reed’s photographs and something remains familiar.

People were dressing up.

Friends were gathering.

Someone was undoubtedly preparing food.

And somebody, apparently, thought riding through a Halloween parade dressed as a clown in sunglasses was a perfectly good idea.

More than one hundred years later, Lewis Reed’s camera lets us join the party.

Remembering My Mother on Her Birthday

Every year when September 24 arrives, my thoughts turn to my mother, Mary Jane (Reed) Gartner. This year, rather than simply remembering her birthday, I find myself thinking about something that has become increasingly meaningful to me: how much of the history I have spent years preserving grew out of the many conversations we shared and the memories she passed along to me.

Mary Jane (Reed) Gartner (1922–2019).

My mother was the daughter of Lewis Reed, founder of Reed Brothers Dodge, and she grew up surrounded by a family business that became part of Rockville history. Long before I understood how valuable her memories would become, she was my connection to an earlier generation of the Reed family. During countless afternoon visits, we would sit together and go through boxes and albums filled with old photographs. Many had no names, dates, or locations written on them. I would hold up a photograph and ask, “Who is this?” or “Where was this taken?”

More often than not, she knew.

A face that meant nothing to me would bring back a name. A house, automobile, storefront, or familiar stretch of road would trigger a story. Sometimes one photograph led to another memory, and before long I was hearing about people and places that otherwise might have disappeared from our family history.

At the time, I don’t think either of us realized just how important those afternoons would become.

Years later, as I began researching and writing the history of Reed Brothers Dodge and organizing my grandfather’s enormous photographic collection, I repeatedly returned to the information my mother had shared with me. Her memories helped put names to faces, places to photographs, and stories into context. They became part of the foundation for this blog, my books, and the historical exhibits that followed.

In many ways, she became one of my most important historical sources.

Jeanne Gartner and Mary Jane Gartner

A special Christmas memory with my mother, Mary Jane (Reed) Gartner, in 2004.

But what I inherited from my mother went far beyond family history.

She taught me to approach life with determination and curiosity. One of her favorite sayings was, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” She also refused to accept the word “can’t”. If there was a problem, her instinct was to look for a way around it rather than a reason to give up.

That philosophy stayed with me throughout my life.

Perhaps that is also why she never allowed age to dictate what she could learn. At 90, she joined Facebook. She learned to Skype and text, used an iPhone and a Windows PC, and approached new technology with the same curiosity she brought to so many other things. Instead of saying something was too complicated or that she was too old to learn it, she simply learned it.

She was also my greatest supporter.

One memory I especially treasure is seeing her in the audience at Glenview Mansion in 2016 when I received the Arthur M. Wagman Award for Historic Preservation Communication from Peerless Rockville. I was being recognized for documenting and sharing Rockville history, but so much of that work had been made possible by the woman sitting in the audience.

When I saw the pride on her face, I knew the moment belonged to both of us.

My mother died on September 10, 2019, just two weeks before her 97th birthday. Yet in a very real sense, she remains present in the work I continue to do. Every time I identify another photograph, uncover another piece of family history, or share another story from the Reed Brothers Dodge archives, I am building upon something she helped preserve.

Historical preservation is often thought of in terms of photographs, documents, newspapers, and artifacts. But some of our most valuable history lives only in people’s memories. If we are fortunate enough to ask the questions while those people are still with us, their memories can become part of the permanent record.

I was fortunate.

I asked the questions.

And my mother told me the stories.

Today, on what would have been her 104th birthday, I remember my mom not only as Lewis Reed’s daughter or as part of the Reed Brothers Dodge story, but as my mother, my greatest supporter, and the person who helped me understand that preserving history often begins with simply sitting down, listening, and remembering.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom.

The stories you shared with me are still being told.

Three Cars, Three Nights at the Rockville VFD Carnival

For generations of Rockville residents, summer once meant carnival time. Each year, the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department Carnival transformed its grounds along Rockville Pike into a gathering place filled with rides, games, music, food, and crowds of families and friends.

But in August 1956, the excitement reached another level.

During the final three nights of that year’s carnival, three brand-new automobiles were given away, one each night.

And one of them came from Reed Brothers Dodge.

Rockville Carnival - Montgomery County Sentinel, August 20, 1953

The Rockville Volunteer Fire Department Carnival midway along Rockville Pike was a familiar summer gathering place for generations of local residents.

The Rockville Volunteer Fire Department had been holding its annual carnival since 1932. What began as a fundraiser grew into a Rockville tradition, eventually occupying approximately ten acres along Rockville Pike, directly across the highway from Reed Brothers Dodge.

Unlike a traveling carnival, much of the Rockville operation was permanent. Fire department members constructed and maintained the familiar red-and-white buildings on the grounds, along with a large dance pavilion built in 1947. For most of the year the property stood quiet. When carnival week arrived, the lights came on and the grounds were transformed.

Rockville VFD Carnival, 1950

Carnival entrance from the Pike, c. 1950. Photo credit: RVFD Photo Archives.

Reed Brothers was more than simply a neighbor across the Pike. The Reed family’s connection with the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department dated to the department’s organization in 1921. Edgar Reed and his brother Philip were among its original members, establishing a relationship between the Reed family and the fire department that continued for decades.

By then, Lewis Reed and Edgar Reed were operating Reed Brothers Dodge just across the road. The dealership had been selling Dodge automobiles in Rockville since 1915, and the two institutions would become familiar landmarks along Rockville Pike as the town grew around them.

Closer view of the carnival grounds reveals Reed Brothers Dodge directly across Rockville Pike. The dealership and carnival were longtime neighbors, while the Reed family’s connection with the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department dated to its organization in 1921.

By the 1950s, the automobile giveaway had become one of the most anticipated traditions of the Rockville VFD Carnival. A brand-new car was a spectacular grand prize, and local automobile dealers helped keep the tradition going over the years.

Few carnivals, however, could have matched what happened in 1956.

On August 16, the Montgomery County Sentinel announced the carnival’s final three nights with a headline certain to attract attention:

“Three Cars Given Away At Rockville Carnival.”

Rockville VFD Carnival

The Montgomery County Sentinel reported on August 16, 1956, that three new automobiles would be given away during the carnival’s final three nights.

Montgomery County was expanding rapidly, new neighborhoods were appearing, and the family automobile was becoming an essential part of everyday life.

A new car wasn’t simply another carnival prize. It was the grand prize.

For Reed Brothers, participating in the automobile giveaway was a natural extension of its longstanding connection to the fire department and the community. By 1956, the dealership had been selling Dodge automobiles in Rockville for more than forty years, and its buildings, signs, and rows of new cars were a familiar sight directly across the Pike from the carnival grounds.

The three automobiles were not the only attractions. The 1956 carnival offered rides, games, dancing, live entertainment, food, and prizes ranging from cooking utensils to stuffed bears. Admission was just 20 cents for adults, while children were admitted free.

Behind all the festivities was an important purpose. The Sentinel described the carnival as the culmination of a year’s work by members of the fire department and its principal source of financial support. At the time, the department received no tax money for its services.

Every admission, meal, game, and prize ticket helped support the firefighters who served the community.

Rockville VFD Carnival

A new Dodge offered as a grand prize at a later Rockville VFD Carnival. Automobile giveaways were a popular carnival tradition for many years. Photo credit: RVFD Photo Archives.

New automobiles would continue to be among the carnival’s most exciting prizes in the years that followed.

The Rockville VFD Carnival eventually disappeared as the community and the demands upon the fire department changed. Reed Brothers Dodge remained across the Pike for decades longer.

Today, photographs and newspaper accounts preserve a glimpse of an earlier Rockville, when the annual firemen’s carnival brought the community together and buying a carnival ticket might result in considerably more than a stuffed bear.

You might just drive home in a brand-new Dodge.

Sources:
Montgomery County Sentinel, August 16, 1956
Rockville Volunteer Fire Department historical archives
Reed Brothers Dodge History archives

More Than Just Motors: The Enduring Link Between Reed Brothers Dodge and the MCPD

When you look back at the history of Montgomery County, Maryland, certain names are synonymous with the growth of the region. Reed Brothers Dodge is certainly one of them, but while we are often remembered as the first Dodge dealership in the area, our history is also deeply intertwined with the very foundation of the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD). This connection wasn’t just about the cars and motorcycles; it was about the people who kept them on the road.

MCPD 1922

This is the first known photograph of the entire Montgomery County Police Force Motor Unit. Pictured left to right: Earl Burdine, Lawrence Clagett, Guy Jones, Chief Charles Cooley, Leroy Rodgers, and Oscar Gaither. Photo taken by Lewis Reed on July 4, 1922.

The relationship between Lewis Reed and the MCPD began on the department’s very first day of duty: July 4, 1922. On that historic morning, Chief Charles Cooley and his five original officers gathered at Reed Brothers Dodge to have their first official group photo taken. At the time, the department was a “mounted” unit on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Because modern, branded dealerships didn’t exist yet, Reed Brothers served as a vital hub for sales and service. Lewis Reed and his brother Edgar were motorcycle enthusiasts who had founded Rockville’s Park Avenue Motorcycle Club a decade earlier in 1912, and their expertise made the dealership the natural home for the county’s early fleet. In those early days, each officer was allotted $300 a year for motorcycle upkeep, and our shop was where much of that vital work happened.

As the decades passed and the MCPD grew into a modern force, the need for expert maintenance grew with it. The department eventually established its own internal garage, but they didn’t have to look far to find the best talent to staff it. The “Reed Brothers standard” was so well-regarded that the police garage specifically recruited veteran mechanics from the dealership. By the late 1970s, two of our most skilled technicians, Ben McGowan and John Hall, transitioned from the service bays at Reed Brothers Dodge to work for the Montgomery County Police garage. Ben, an electrical and AC specialist, and John, a Maryland State Inspector and ASE-certified mechanic, brought a wealth of “under-the-hood” knowledge to the county.

This pipeline of talent from the dealership to the public sector highlights a beautiful piece of Rockville history. It shows that Reed Brothers Dodge was more than just a business; it was a training ground for the craftsmen who kept the county moving. When we see photos of those early 1922 officers on their Harleys or hear stories of the police fleet in the decades that followed, we aren’t just looking at machines. We are looking at the legacy of men like Lewis Reed, Ben McGowan, and John Hall– the hands that built, serviced, and supported the safety of our community for over a century.

Rockville's Park Avenue Motorcycle Club, 1912

First motorcycle club in Rockville, Maryland. One Harley Davidson, one Indian, and Three Excelsior motorcycles on Park Avenue, 1912. Lewis Reed, far left.

As the curator of these archives and the granddaughter of Lewis Reed, I feel a great sense of pride in preserving these connections. Seeing the faces of men like Ben McGowan and John Hall reminds me that our family business was built on the shoulders of dedicated craftsmen who served their neighbors and their county. It is a legacy of service that I am honored to document and share with you today.

Snapshots in Time: Reed Brothers Dodge Then and Now

Reed Brothers Dodge occupies a distinctive place in Montgomery County’s commercial and transportation history, operating as a family-run dealership for nearly a century and weathering profound shifts in American life. Established in 1915 by automobile pioneer Lewis Reed and later joined by his brother Edgar, the firm grew from a modest Rockville garage into one of the nation’s oldest continuously operated Dodge dealerships, surviving two world wars, economic downturns, and repeated upheavals in the auto industry. “Snapshots in Time: Reed Brothers Dodge Then and Now” examines this trajectory through paired historical and contemporary images, inviting readers to view the dealership not simply as a business, but as a long-running institution that helped drive Montgomery County’s transition from rural crossroads to modern suburb. (click images to enlarge)

The black-and-white photograph on the left shows Lewis Reed’s original Rockville Garage in 1915, located at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. In the early days of the automobile, many dealerships evolved from existing repair garages, and Rockville Garage was no exception. That same year, Lewis Reed became a partner with Robert L. and Griffith Warfield. The Warfield brothers later purchased the building in July 1915 from Lee Ricketts and Sons, who had operated the local Overland agency. The business continued under the Rockville Garage name until, shortly after Edgar Reed joined his brother, it was renamed at the suggestion of the late Judge Edward Peter.

The image on the right is a 1970 artist’s rendering of the new Reed Brothers Dodge dealership, representing a pivotal moment in the company’s history. After 55 years at the original downtown triangle location, Lee Gartner purchased 4.37 acres from Eugene Casey and relocated the business to a modern facility at 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville. Featuring a contemporary showroom and a full Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep service complex, the new site marked the beginning of a new era, while carrying forward a legacy that began nearly six decades earlier in a modest corner garage.

The black and white photograph above, taken by Lewis Reed, shows the original Reed Brothers Dodge dealership nearly 80 years ago… and on the right is the same location today, now known as Veterans Park. In the 1970s, the site was briefly called Francis Scott Key Memorial Park, before being permanently rededicated as Veterans Park in 1988 to honor those who served. During the late 1960s, the State of Maryland acquired the property to widen Route 355. The remaining portion of land was donated to the City of Rockville, and a small street created behind the dealership was named “Dodge Street”—a lasting tribute to the more than 50 years Reed Brothers Dodge called that location home. What was once a center of automotive innovation has been transformed into a quiet place of remembrance, but the legacy of Reed Brothers Dodge remains forever etched in the street signs and stories of Rockville’s past.

These photographs show the intersection of King Farm Boulevard and Frederick Road; the site where Reed Brothers Dodge stood proudly for more than 40 years. The image on the left, captured by Google Street View in April 2012, shows the dealership just before it closed its doors for the last time.

Today, the legacy of Reed Brothers Dodge continues in a new form. On the right, the property is now home to The Reed, a rebranded apartment complex that pays tribute to the site’s deep roots in local history. In early 2025, the familiar Bainbridge name officially disappeared from 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville. Along with the signage, the apartment complex underwent a complete rebranding, now honoring the legacy of the Reed family and the dealership that once stood there. Though the building is gone, the memory of Reed Brothers Dodge remains deeply rooted in the landscape and spirit of the community.

The black and white photograph above was taken by Lewis Reed in 1915, looking west from the site of his original Rockville Garage. Visible in the image is the dealership’s very first “gas station”—a single pump. In the distance, an early trolley car makes its way along Main Street (now Rockville Pike), part of a transit line that operated from 1900 to 1935, running past Reed Brothers Dodge. Also visible in the background is the historic St. Mary’s Cemetery, a landmark that still exists today.

Fast forward to the present, and the same view seen on the right looks dramatically different. The once-quiet corridor has evolved into what locals now affectionately call “the mixing bowl,” a complex web of modern roads, traffic signals, and constant motion. While the landscape has changed, the photo offers a rare window into the early days of Rockville’s automotive and transit history.

The “then” photograph above was taken by Lewis Reed in 1953 at the corner of East Montgomery Avenue and Dodge Street. It captures the newly constructed building, which housed the showroom along with the parts and service departments. When the State of Maryland widened the surrounding roads in 1970, the connector street behind the dealership’s original location was officially named “Dodge Street,” a nod to the many years Reed Brothers Dodge operated there—from 1915 to 1970.

The “now” image on the right is a Google Maps view of the same location, captured in 2016—64 years later—showing just how dramatically the area has changed over time.

Both of the “then and now” images above are Google Maps Street View photographs taken just ten years apart. The image on the left shows Reed Brothers Dodge in 2007, while the image on the right captures the same site after its transformation into the Bainbridge Shady Grove Metro Apartments.

In early 2025, the familiar Bainbridge name officially disappeared from 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville. Along with the signage, the apartment complex underwent a complete rebranding. Today, the property is known simply as The Reed, a name that pays tribute to the site’s deep roots in local history.

The 1917 photo on the left is the original Rockville Garage located at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike, 100 years ago. Note the unpaved dirt road on Rockville Pike and trolley tracks running past the Rockville Garage. Both photographs were taken by Lewis Reed on the Rockville Pike side of the dealership.

On the right, is the same location 50 years later of the Reed Brothers Dodge Gulf Gasoline station. Due to changes in the highway, Reed Brothers began an extensive remodeling and rebuilding program. Two-thirds of the original location at the junction of then Route 240 and Veirs Mill Road was razed and a modern Gulf Service Station was erected.

On the left is a mid-1960s view from the corner of Veirs Mill Road and Dodge Street showing the new building for Reed Brothers Service Department. On the right is a Google street view image of the same location today, 50 years later.

The photograph on the left shows a side view of the Rockville Garage, including its two-story addition to the original shop, taken nearly a century ago. The first floor housed the service department, while the upper level was used for parts storage. A tall chimney, likely connected to a coal furnace, provided heat, and the abundance of windows flooded the workspace with natural light for servicing early automobiles. By this time, Firestone Tire signage had replaced the earlier Fisk brand sold at Rockville Garage in 1915.

The photograph on the right was taken in 1968 from the same location, roughly 50 years later. By then, major highway changes had dramatically altered the site. Nearly two-thirds of the original property at the junction of what was then Route 240 and Veirs Mill Road had been razed, making way for a modern Gulf service station.

The beginning and the end at 15955 Frederick Road: 1970 and 2013.

The photograph on the left shows the dealership’s newly completed building in 1970, following its move from the original location at the triangle formed by Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. This modern facility marked Reed Brothers Dodge’s 55th year of selling Dodge vehicles and signaled a new chapter for the business.

The image on the right was taken on May 16, 2013. The building stands vacant, photographed on the very day demolition began, bringing nearly a century of automotive history at this location to a close.

The photograph on the left shows rows of beige and baby-blue cars lined up neatly in the side lot. Just across the road stands King Farm, dominated by its large barn painted with the words “Milk for Thompson’s Dairy,” long before the land was transformed into a dense mixed-use community. At the time, Lawson King’s dairy cows grazed in fields only a few feet from the roadway. At its height, King Farm was the area’s largest milk producer and had remained in agricultural use for nearly 75 years before development was approved in 1996.

The image on the right was taken from the same vantage point in 2009, more than three decades later. The familiar barn still rises in the background, but the surrounding fields are gone, replaced by the streets, buildings, and neighborhoods of what is now known as King Farm.

Looking at these images side by side, it’s clear that progress doesn’t erase history, it builds on it. Streets may widen, buildings may disappear, and businesses may move on, but traces of what once was are still there for those who know where to look. Lewis Reed’s photographs give us a rare anchor to the past, allowing today’s landscape to be seen with new eyes. In comparing then and now, we’re reminded that Rockville’s story is not just about change, but about continuity, memory, and the people who lived and worked along these streets long before us.