1922 Bus Stop Scene on Rockville Pike
1922 GMC Hagerstown Bus taking on passengers at a bus stop across the street from Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville, Maryland
Vehicles from this era are fascinating and are often photographed with equally fascinating surroundings. The photograph above is a unique, early photograph of a Hagerstown Bus owned by Forsyth’s Garage & Transfer of Rockville. The bus is an early GMC. The tag on bus is dated 1922 and behind the bus on the left is the bus station with signs that say “Pay Gate” and “Pass Gate”. The banner across the road says “Montgomery County Fair, Rockville, MD” and the dates. Directly across the street is Reed Brothers Dodge. The photograph was found on WorthPoint.com, an online resource for researching art, antiques and collectibles, etc.
The photograph below was taken by Lewis Reed during the same time frame only from a different perspective. It is also dated 1922, and the bus stop would have been right in front of the boarded fence across the main road (later the Rockville Pike). The Rockville Fair Grounds are just beyond the boarded fence. Buses and trolleys used to go past Reed Brothers as they traveled up Rockville Pike. The Fairgrounds was one of the stops along the line.
Reed Brothers Dodge, 1922. The original part of the garage was converted into a new car showroom and the service operation was moved out into the rear portion of the building. Note the “modern” gas pumps. The Rockville Fair Grounds are beyond the boarded fence.
I enjoy solving mysteries and digging deep to find information on vintage motor vehicles and today I am sharing what has turned up in my research.
I found an interesting article in the Motor Age, Volume 41, March 23, 1922 on page 16, titled – General Motors Develops Motor Bus, and I have extracted the article as follows:
A twenty-passenger motor bus was introduced by the General Motors Truck Company, Pontiac, Michigan, which is mounted on a chassis designed for this type of body. By combining a long wheelbase with long, flexible semi-elliptic springs together with 36 by 6 in. cord tires, easy riding qualities have been the result. The body overhangs the frame slightly which, it is said, eliminates much of the side-sway and whipping more or less common with buses mounted on a wheelbase length considerably shorter than the body. The frame on the chassis overhangs the rear axle but slightly.
The standard G.M.C. 2-ton powerplant is used and it is claimed that a road speed of 30 miles an hour, to which the bus is governed, is readily obtainable. In test, the bus fully loaded, was driven at 25 miles per hour up to a 4% grade on high gear. The G.M.C. 4 x 5 1/2 in. powerplant, which has been described in these pages, incorporates features such as removable cylinder sleeve, removable valve lifter assemblies, pressure lubrication, dual cooling, hot-spot vaporization, etc, and the governor equipment is a fly-ball type which has also been described.
The bus body for this new equipment is furnished with two seating arrangements, one adapted particularly to inter-urban bus operation and the other designed for city passenger work. The body is built of oak reinforced with metal and is finished outside in smooth paneled surfaces. In order to accommodate the narrow roads, the bus has been built to a width of 74 in. and the seating arrangement has been made to correspond with this width without sacrifice to comfort of balance.
The interior of the bus is finished in paneled oak with rattan seats. The equipment is complete including non-rattling adjustable windows, complete buzzer signal system, front entrance door controlled from the driver’s seat and rear emergency door. The equipment also includes a rear vision mirror, dome lights and an advertising card rack. The fuel tank is located outside and is filled from outside without inconvenience or fire risk. The fuel is fed to the engine by vacuum system.
1922 GMC 20-passenger motor bus
July 4, 1922: First MCPD Posing in Front of Reed Brothers Dodge
This photograph is the first known photograph of the entire MCPD. Pictured left to right: Earl Burdine, Lawrence Clagett, Guy Jones, Chief Charles Cooley, Leroy Rodgers, and Oscar Gaither. Photo by Lewis Reed
This blog entry is posted today to commemorate the anniversary of the Montgomery County Police Department. It was 95 years ago on July 4, 1922 that the MCPD was first established. In those days, Montgomery County was farm country, sparsely populated, automobiles sharing dirt roads with horse-drawn wagons. But it was changing into a proper suburb, and there needed to be a police department.
Posing in front of Reed Brothers Dodge on July 4, 1922 Chief Charles Cooley, center, and his men of the first mounted unit of the Montgomery County Police Force, were on their first day of duty. For several years, since there was no police station, the officers would meet for “roll call” on the steps of the red brick courthouse at 2:00 p.m. every day to let each other know they were alive and well. Chief Cooley was given the privilege of a Model T Ford. Each of the officers was issued a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a .38 Smith & Wesson handgun, a black jack, law book and was allotted $300.00 a year for the upkeep of their motorcycle. Jones patrolled Silver Spring, Rodgers the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area and Burdine, Clagett and Gaither the Upper County areas.
Source: Montgomery County, Two Centuries of Change by Jane C. Sween
Offutt’s General Store, with a 1919 Dodge Truck Purchased from Reed Brothers Dodge Parked in Front
Offutt’s General Store, with a 1919 Dodge delivery truck purchased from Reed Brothers Dodge parked in front. Photo courtesy of Mary Offutt Stubbs, Edward Offutt’s daughter
Offutt’s General Store and filling station in the building that is now Hank Dietle’s Tavern on Rockville Pike. Edward Offutt, a landowner, first constructed the building as a general store in 1916 selling groceries, animal feed, penny candy, food and drinks, according to Montgomery County Historical Society records.
The building was constructed in 1916, and first housed a general store, with two gas pumps outside. It was owned and operated by Edward Offutt; he and his family lived in a house next door. The actual bar in the tavern predates the building. In the 1940s, a fire destroyed the original bar. So, the owner at the time — prior to Hank Dietle — traveled to Baltimore to buy a “new” bar. He found one about 100 years old and it was sawed down to fit where it sits today. Tony Huniak, who began going to the tavern in the 1970s, purchased Dietle’s in the 1990s to save the neighborhood bar from closing.
The photo of the original Offutt’s General Store shows a 1919 Dodge Screenside delivery truck purchased from Reed Brothers Dodge parked in front. Notice the screens on the side with roll up canvas covers. Commercial users of these units preferred Dodges because they had an all steel body. Four large visible pumps dispensing That Good Gulf Gasoline can be seen in front. Its Class D beer and wine license, numbered 001, was the first issued in Montgomery County Maryland after the end of Prohibition.
Montgomery County Sentinel, March 14, 1919
Dodge Brothers did not have a truck line, though Dodge would later be known for their trucks. Horace and John Dodge reluctantly agreed to develop a commercial vehicle in 1917 after their sales associates lobbied for a work truck that could be sold to small businesses that made deliveries of fruit, beer, and other goods. The result was a vehicle based on the first Dodge passenger car. The vehicle eventually became the screen-side Dodge business truck, with a thousand-pound payload, selling for $885.
Reed Brothers Dodge Featured in Montgomery Magazine
Reed Brothers is very proud and honored to be featured in the month of April/May 2017 Montgomery Magazine, historic landmarks “Then & Now” section. The black and white photograph above is Reed Brothers Dodge located at its original location in Old Rockville at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike – close to 100 years ago – with “That Good Gulf” gasoline drive-through filling station and Dodge Brothers Motor Car and Graham Brothers Truck signage. The Alemite sign in front indicates that Reed Brothers also sold and used the Alemite lubricating system.
In 1918, the Gulf Refining Co. adopted a brick and tile roof station with canopy supported by four brick columns covering two front driveways. “That Good Gulf” was one of the Company’s marketing slogans for a number of years during the twenties and thirties. The second story was added to the showroom with a glazed front looking out onto Rockville Pike on the right. The photo was taken by Lewis Reed in the late 1920s. Note the unpaved dirt road on Rockville Pike and trolley tracks running past the dealership. (click on images to enlarge)
The color photograph above, is the dealership’s location today, now known as Veterans Park. In the 1970s the site was known as the Francis Scott Key Memorial Park, and later in 1988, it was permanently rededicated as Veterans Park. In the late 1960s, the state of Maryland acquired the land to widen 355 and donated the remaining sliver to the City. The state named the connector street behind the dealership’s location “Dodge Street” because Reed Brothers Dodge dealership was located there for more than 50 years.
Montgomery Magazine is a lifestyle magazine, with timely articles on county leaders, entertainment, sports, neighborhood and restaurant profiles, entrepreneurs, historic landmarks then and now, plus seasonal special sections of local interest.
Find the issue online at: http://www.montgomerymag.com/MM_Newsletters.html
22 Then & Now Photos to Show Just How Much Has Changed
Reed Brothers Dodge and the surrounding area sure has changed a lot in its almost century-long history. I thought it would be fun to revisit some locations using some of Lewis Reed’s original photographs for “then” and Google Maps street view images from today for “now” to see what differences are visible. Google Maps time-lapse tool lets you explore an area’s evolution as far back as 2007. Some views look remarkably similar, while others are completely unrecognizable. So, in no particular order, here is a collection of Reed Brothers “then and now” photographs taken between 1915 and today. (click images to enlarge)
The black and white photograph on the left is Lewis Reed’s original 1914 Rockville Garage located at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. In those days, many early car dealers grew out of existing garages. In 1914, Lewis Reed became a partner in the Rockville Garage with Robert L. and Griffith Warfield. The Warfield brothers had purchased this building in July 1915, from Lee Ricketts and Sons who had the Overland Agency. The business continued to operate under the old name until it was changed at the suggestion of the late Judge Edward Peter shortly after Edgar Reed joined his brother.
On the right, is a 1970 artist rendition of the new dealership. After 55 years at the original location at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike, Lee Gartner purchased 4.37 acres of land from Eugene Casey and relocated Reed Brothers Dodge to a new state-of-the-art showroom and Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep service complex on Route 355 at 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville Maryland.
The black and white photograph above taken by Lewis Reed, is the dealership close to 80 years ago … and on the right is the same location today, now known as Veterans Park. In the 1970s the site was known as the Francis Scott Key Memorial Park, and later in 1988, it was permanently rededicated as Veterans Park. In the late 1960s, the state of Maryland acquired the land to widen 355 and donated the remaining sliver to the City. The state named the connector street behind the dealership’s location “Dodge Street” because Reed Brothers Dodge dealership was located there for more than 50 years.
These photographs were taken on the corner of Route 355 at the intersection of King Farm Boulevard and Frederick Road. Reed Brothers Dodge stood at this location for more than 40 years. The photo on the left is a Google street view taken in April 2012 of Reed Brothers just before closing.
The dealership’s legacy continues to this day on the site of its former location on the right, which is now the Bainbridge Shady Grove Metro Apartments. A 20-ft sculpture that commemorates the dealership’s history sits prominently at the main entrance to the development and can be seen by thousands of daily commuters taking the Red Line from the Shady Grove Metro Station to Bethesda, Maryland and Washington, D.C. The sculpture can be seen from some distance, especially at night, and now acts as a key landmark at the entrance to the Shady Grove Metro Station.
The black and white photograph above was taken by Lewis Reed in 1915 from the location of his Rockville Garage. Their first “gas station” consisted of a single pump which can be seen in the photo. The view is looking West on Main Street of Rockville showing an early Trolley car. From 1900 – 1935, the trolley cars went past Reed Brothers Dodge as they traveled up Rockville Pike. Also in the background is the old St Mary’s Cemetery. And on the right is the same view today, fondly known as “the mixing bowl.”
The “then” photo above was taken by Lewis Reed in 1953 at the corner of East Montgomery Ave and Dodge Street. It shows the new building for Reed Brothers Showroom, Parts and Service Departments. When the state of Maryland widened the roads in 1970, they named the connector street behind the dealership’s original location, “Dodge Street” because Reed Brothers Dodge was located there for so may years (1914-1970). The “now” photo on the right is a google maps image of the same location captured in 2016 … 64 years later.
Both of the “then & now” images above are Google Maps Street views taken 10 years apart. Reed Brothers Dodge in 2007 on the left and on the site of its former location, now the Bainbridge Shady Grove Metro Apartments.
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 photo on the left is a side view of the Rockville Garage two story addition to the original shop taken .. close to 100 years ago. The first floor housed the Service Department and upper floor was used for parts storage. The chimney was probably to a coal furnace that was used to heat the building. The many windows allowed natural light for working on cars. Signage for Firestone Tires replaced the Fisk brand that was sold at Rockville Garage earlier in 1915.
The photo on the right is a 1968 photo taken at the same location, some 50 years later. Due to changes in the highway, 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.
The “beginning and the end” at 15955 Frederick Road: 1970 and 2013. The photo on the left is the new building in 1970 after the move from its original location at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. The new building marked the dealership’s 55th year of selling Dodge’s.
On the right, is a photo that I took on May 16, 2013 of the vacant building on the day that demolition began.
The photograph on the left is a line of beige and baby blue cars all lined up in rows on the side lot. Across the road is King Farm with the big barn that said, “MILK FOR THOMPSON’S DAIRY” before it was transformed into a large-scale mixed use community. Lawson King’s dairy cows used to graze in the fields just a few feet from the roadway right across the road. At its peak, King Farm was the largest milk producer in the area and had been in agricultural use for nearly 75 years before it was approved for development in 1996.
On the right is a view from the same perspective taken in 2009… 30 some years later. In the background is the same big barn on the field that is now the new urban development known as King Farm.
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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 
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