Then & Now: Reed Brothers Dodge and the Changing Face of Rockville
The story of Reed Brothers Dodge is also the story of how Rockville and Montgomery County grew up around the automobile. Through the lens of founder Lewis Reed, we can watch that transformation unfold one frame at a time.
THEN: A Corner Garage on a Dirt Road
In the early 1900s, Rockville was still very much a rural crossroads. When Lewis Reed opened his original Rockville Garage in 1915 at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike, the scene looked nothing like the busy corridor we know today.
THEN: 1917 Rockville Garage, later expanded with a two-story addition. A Texaco Filling Station sign is visible alongside a Texaco petroleum fuel truck servicing the single pump out front.
In the historic photograph, you can see:
- An unpaved Rockville Pike, more dirt than road, stretching into the distance.
- Trolley tracks running past the garage, part of the transit line that connected Rockville to Washington, D.C. from 1900 to 1935.
- A simple building front with “Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicles” signage, more workshop than showroom.
It was a modest operation by modern standards, but it represented something new: a dedicated place in town for motorists to buy, fuel, and service their automobiles. At a time when horse‑drawn wagons still shared the road, Reed Brothers Dodge stood at the frontier of a new way of moving through the world.
NOW: From Quiet Crossroads to “Mixing Bowl”
Stand in the same spot today and it is almost hard to believe it is the same place. The once‑quiet junction has evolved into what locals now refer to as “the mixing bowl,” a complex web of roads, traffic signals, and near‑constant traffic.
NOW: Veterans Park occupies the former Reed Brothers Dodge corner at Rockville’s “mixing bowl,” a small green refuge with flags and pathways set against the backdrop of constant traffic and busy highways.
Where the original Reed Brothers building once stood, the landscape has cycled through multiple lives:
- In the decades that followed, the busy crossroads gave way to highway progress, as road‑widening projects in the 1960s and 1970s carved away much of the original Reed Brothers property.
- The once‑bustling dealership site was gradually transformed into what is now Veterans Park.
- With the demolition of the dealership building in 1970, nearly half a century of automotive history at that corner came to a close, leaving only photographs and memories to mark its presence.
Today, the same view is dominated by multi‑lane roads, turning lanes, and signage, where there were once dirt streets, trolleys, and the old Rockville Fairgrounds just across the Pike.
A Dealership That Grew with Its Community
Reed Brothers Dodge did not stand still while the roads changed. Founded in 1915, the family business survived World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, recessions, and Chrysler’s financial crises of the 1970s and 1980s.
Key milestones include:
- Expansion from a small corner garage into a full Dodge dealership as automobile ownership grew.
- Construction of a new showroom and service building at East Montgomery Avenue and what would later be named Dodge Street in the 1940s.
- A major relocation in 1970 to a modern facility at 15955 Frederick Road in front of the Shady Grove Metro, complete with contemporary showroom and full service complex.
By the time the dealership closed in 2012, Reed Brothers Dodge had operated in Rockville for more than 97 years, making it the longest‑running Dodge dealership in Montgomery County history.
This single pair of images is just one chapter in a much larger visual record. Lewis Reed’s photographs capture everyday life across Maryland and beyond from 1898 through 1960. Many of these scenes can still be recognized today if you know where to look, even as roads have widened, buildings have vanished, and new neighborhoods have emerged. You can explore the entire “Then & Now” series with Lewis Reed’s photographs here: https://reedbrothersdodgehistory.com/category/then-now/.
Then and Now: Hotel Cape May, 1919
People have been visiting Cape May, “the nation’s oldest seashore resort,” for longer than America has been a country. That makes Cape May the perfect place to look back on over 100 years ago and from today — then and now.
A bit of Hotel Cape May history: The Christian Admiral, formerly Admiral Hotel and Hotel Cape May, was a luxury beachfront hotel located in Cape May, New Jersey. Opened in 1908, as the Hotel Cape May, the ornate hotel was abandoned five years later due to bankruptcy. It was then sold at a Sheriff’s sale. The hotel was leased by the War Department as a hospital from 1918-1919 during WWI. Afterwards, it was again abandoned. In 1932, the Admiral Hotel company purchased it and renamed it the Admiral Hotel. They too went bankrupt in 1940. The military returned for WWII from 1941 to 1945 and afterwards it was once more sold at Sheriff’s sale. It opened and closed multiple times before being abandoned again in the 1950s. Reverend McIntire saved it from demolition in 1963, and operated it until his organization too, went bankrupt. The Christian Admiral never made a profit for any of its owners and was the cause of six bankruptcies. Nonetheless, it was a gorgeous hotel and one of the most recognizable and beloved buildings in Cape May. The people who liquidated McIntire’s organization shopped the hotel around, but it was deemed too far gone to save. Engineer estimates were $20 million and above, just to make it structurally sound and from $60-$80 million to restore it. The hotel was razed in 1996.
Hotel Cape May (THEN): The Christian Admiral Hotel, originally known as the Hotel Cape May, was erected in the Beaux-Arts style between 1905 and 1908. When opened on April 11, 1908, it was the world’s largest hotel. Completed behind schedule and over budget, Hotel Cape May was part of a development project intended to bring wealthy visitors to the city and rival East Coast resorts such as Newport, Rhode Island. During its existence it would undergo five bankruptcies and ownership changes.
Edgar was a partner with his brother Lewis Reed, in Reed Brothers Dodge. During WWI, Edgar served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from February 1918 to August 1919 and had been posted to GENERAL HOSPITAL NO. 11 in CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY. The spirit of patriotic service which swept the country prompted many persons to offer their properties to the War Department for hospital purposes. These offers included buildings of every conceivable kind, such as department stores, private establishments, hospitals, and properties in large cities. It was found that many of these could be obtained and converted into hospitals much more expeditiously than barrack hospitals could be constructed, and at less cost.
The Surgeon General recommended that the War Department authorize the leasing of the Hotel Cape May for use as a general hospital on December 18, 1917. The Hotel Cape May was located on the Ocean Drive, at the eastern end of the city, and within 100 feet of the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. Opened first as GENERAL HOSPITAL NO. 16, the designation was changed to GENERAL HOSPITAL NO. 11, March 14, 1918. The enlisted personnel were quartered in tents which were located to the rear of the building.
Hotel Cape May as it looked in 1919. Photo by Lewis Reed.
The Christian Admiral Hotel (NOW): In 1991, the hotel was closed by Cape May City officials. The hotel was demolished in 1996 and the site was reused for a development of single family homes. The demolition of the hotel placed the city’s National Historic Landmark status at risk.
The Christian Admiral Hotel, late 1970s. Closed by Cape May City Officials, 1991 for want of tens of millions of dollars to bring up to modern codes. Destroyed: Feb, 1996.
Historic Tracks: Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station Then and Now
The Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station is more than just a building, it’s a piece of American history. From Abraham Lincoln’s famous journey to deliver the Gettysburg Address to the thousands of visitors who pass through today, this station has seen it all. In this “Then & Now” post, we take a look at how this iconic landmark has changed (or stayed the same!) over the years, giving us a fresh perspective on a place that helped shape our nation’s story.
Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station (THEN): Captured by photographer Lewis Reed in 1914, this remarkable image shows a crowd gathered along the tracks outside the Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station. The station’s elegant Italianate architecture with its arched windows, decorative brickwork, and central cupola stands prominently in the background. A steam locomotive waits at the platform as men in suits and bowler hats fill the scene, evoking an era when rail travel was both essential and ceremonial. The photograph offers a vivid glimpse into early 20th-century life in Gettysburg, when the railroad still served as the town’s vital connection to the wider world.
A historic photograph of the Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station captured by Lewis Reed in 1914, showing the depot in its early 20th-century setting.
Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station (NOW): More than a century later, the restored Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station continues to welcome visitors; though today, they come not to board trains, but to step back in time. The station now operates as a museum and visitor center, preserving the story of Abraham Lincoln’s arrival to deliver the Gettysburg Address in 1863. Its beautifully restored façade and carefully maintained details honor both its Civil War legacy and the generations that followed, ensuring this historic landmark remains a lasting link between past and present.
Gettysburg Railroad Lincoln Train Museum Today
A Century in Contrast: Then & Now at the Conowingo Dam
As part of our ongoing “Then & Now” series, we’re journeying through time using photographs from Lewis Reed’s remarkable photo collection. These powerful comparisons highlight how much, and sometimes how little, the world around us has changed. In this installment, we turn our lens to the Conowingo Dam, where echoes of the past still linger in the present. Step back in time and see how this historic site has evolved over the past 100 years.
Conowingo Dam (THEN): The Conowingo Dam, completed in 1928, is a large hydroelectric dam on the Susquehanna River in Maryland, known for its role in power generation and its impact on the Chesapeake Bay. When completed, it was the second-largest hydroelectric project by power output in the United States, after Niagara Falls.
Power House and entrance to driveway crossing Conowingo Dam, Conowingo, Maryland. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1928.
Conowingo Dam (NOW): Today, the Conowingo Dam is operated by the Susquehanna Electric Company, a part of Constellation Energy. The dam is one of the most popular destinations in the United States for seeing bald eagles. While the surrounding area is home to dozens of the eagles year-round, upwards of 200 more will migrate from places like New York and Canada, where lakes and rivers freeze over in the winter and limit fishing opportunities. Their numbers typically peak from November to January, with the eagles taking advantage of the dam’s turbines stunning fish swimming downriver to make for easy hunting. Once a fish is caught, eagles will often battle midair for it, and the spectacle attracts bird photographers from all over the world.
Conowingo Dam today. Google stock image
Source of Information: Conowingo Dam – Wikipedia
Then & Now: The Original 1917 Rockville Garage
Reed Brothers Dodge and the surrounding area sure has changed a lot in its almost century-long history. You might not realize how much things have changed until you look back and see what it looked like in the past. For this post, I have used one of Lewis Reed’s original photographs for “then” and a Google Maps street view image from today for “now”.
1917 view of the original Rockville Garage two-story addition. Until 1920, Dodge sported a set of six hexagonal windows in the back of each passenger cabin on their Touring and Roaster models. These were called cathedral lights and became the first trademark feature to make Dodge vehicles stand out from the rest. Parked in front is an early Dodge car with the exclusive Dodge Brothers cathedral-style rear curtain windows.
NOW: The color photograph below, 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 connector street behind the dealership’s original location was named “Dodge Street” by the State of Maryland following the dealership’s 1941 expansion. Dodge Street today is one of the shortest roads in the State of Maryland, running between the Rockville Pike (at Richard Montgomery High School) and Veirs Mill Road, a distance of only 250 feet.
Rockville Garage (Reed Brothers Dodge) original location at the triangle today. Google Image Capture, 2021
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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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