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In turn of the century America, the motor car craze was just beginning and the transition from horse-drawn vehicles to automobiles must have seemed simultaneously gradual and dizzyingly swift. Here we explore Montgomery County in the earliest days of the industry: how the automobile sales landscape looked as Lewis Reed was breaking into the business... and who his competition was.
In the above c. 1914 photo of East Montgomery Avenue in Rockville, several motor cars share the road side by side with horse-drawn carts (as well as with trolley cars-- the tracks in the street can be seen near center).
Kelchner's Garage, 1909
Above: advertisement for Fords and other auto brands available from J.F. Kelchner that ran in the Sentinel from February through May, 1909.
At right: Edgar Reed on his c.1912 Indian motorcycle.
The first advertisement for a local auto dealer in Montgomery County's Sentinel newspaper was in early 1909, placed by Agent J.F. Kelchner, later to become Kelchner's Garage. Indian motorcycles were also advertised, a brand the Reed brothers rode during their motorcycling days (although they tended to prefer Excelsior Autocycles). A few interesting things stick out in this ad-- "Cadallac" is misspelled (could easily have been a typesetting mistake), and "Stanley Steamer" is offered as a brand, which was an early steam-powered motor vehicle long before it was a carpet cleaning machine.
Unlike today's constant inflation, prices on these early Fords continued to drop over time, making them more affordable for more people. By 1912, the price of a Model T had dropped from $850 to $690, then to the $500 range by 1914, and again into the $400s by 1915.
At left and below, Kelchner's advertisements for Model Ts, 1912-1915.
Automobiles in Society
Automobiles were a new technology, and society struggled with how to incorporate them into the existing transportation infrastructure. Horses were skittish of the loud motors, and those who drove cars often had little training on how to operate them safely--both situations caused unprecedented accidents. Jane Sween remembers that her father, Reed Brothers salesman Raleigh Chinn, often had to teach his customers how to drive the automobiles they had just purchased from him. "Speed limits" were a new concept, as individually-controlled vehicles capable of speeds much faster than a horse were previously non-existent.
May 6, 1910: new license and speed limit laws in effect regarding automobile use for the state of Maryland.
Not from Montgomery County, but from the era: sign on this bridge reads "$10 fine for driving faster than a walk." Photo by Lewis Reed, c. 1910
Competition Outside of Rockville
Rockville wasn't the only place the automobile business was burgeoning. Some of the earliest dealerships cropped up in Gaithersburg, most notably the G.W. Etchison garage. Etchisons (also known as the Gaithersburg Motor Car Company) had the Overland models, advertising in the Sentinel by February, 1910 and continuing through March, 1913. Overland was a motor car company founded in Terra Haute, Indiana in 1903.
The Overland franchise was later granted to C.A. Fulks & Brother, also of Gaithersburg, but not until after it was held briefly by the Ricketts Brothers of Rockville (see below).
Etchison's Overland Agency in Gaithersburg, various ads 1910-1913 (Montgomery County Sentinel)
Fulks & Bro. receives the Overland franchise in April, 1915, after it was released by the Ricketts Brothers of Rockville. (Montgomery County Sentinel)
In 1912 (at left), a third MoCo dealer advertises: Snyder & Metz in Germantown, selling Everitts and Marathons. Today, the Marathon Motor Company in Nashville, Tennessee has been converted into a museum and retail destination. (Everitt is misspelled in the Sentinel advertisement at left).
Newspaper advertisements are helpful for understanding the automobile business, but they offer a non-inclusive view. Not all agents or dealerships could afford to advertise consistently.
Rockville Garage (Ricketts Bros.), 1914-1915
Above, Rockville Garage advertisement for Pullmans in May 1915.
Below, transfer of the Rockville lot to the Warfields, October 5, 1915 (Montgomery County Sentinel)
At left: Rickett's garage building in 1915; W.W. Welsh's receipt from the Rockville Garage on May 7, 1914.
Leonidas Ricketts was the resident caretaker of the Montgomery County Poor Farm in Rockville, and eventually owned land in Rockville and a farm in Gaithersburg. He had three sons: Raymond, Emory, and Thomas Alva (who went by "Alva").
Alva was born in April of 1892 , and as a young man worked as a blacksmith-- a common occupation that led to interest in and facility for working with automobiles. In May of 1914, Alva Ricketts purchased the lot across the street from the fairgrounds and built a garage, "in which will be kept his autos for the accommodation of the traveling public," according to a short blurb in the Sentinel, and called it the "Rockville Garage." A receipt for "Auto hire" to W.W. Welsh from this time (pictured above) indicates their business was both a car rental service and repair shop as well as a dealership that sold Overland automobiles (they likely took over the franchise from the Etchisons of Gaithersburg). Raymond Ricketts, ten years older than Alva, was possibly the other brother of Ricketts Brothers, having previously worked as a fertilizer agent.
The Ricketts' sale of Overlands was short-lived: by April of 1915, Alva Ricketts instead advertised the sale of Pullman Juniors at the Rockville location. Then the Ricketts family sold this property, including the garage, to Robert and Clarence Warfield in October 1915 (Montgomery County Land Records, Liber 252, Page 228). By this time, Lewis Reed was either already employed at the Rockville Garage as a mechanic working for the Ricketts, or he joined the business along with the Warfields, becoming a partner soon after.
The war significantly affected the young men of this era. Raymond Ricketts was working at Kelchner’s garage by 1917 (when he filled out the WWI draft card) and then after the war, he returned to his father’s farm and worked there the rest of his life. Alva also served in WWI-- he was sent to Camp Meade in 1918.
The Warfield Brothers opened a Ford dealership in Frederick, Maryland starting in 1917, and a few years later sold their remaining interest in the Rockville Garage to Lewis Reed (in September, 1919).
The Frederick Motor Company is still in business today, and still family-owned, parallel to the Reed Brothers story in Montgomery County.
(Article from the Daily News of Frederick, September 26, 1917. Photo c. 1955 from The Frederick Motor Company)
Post-World War I
By the 1920s, Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville was firmly established, as was the automobile industry. The "fly-by-night" agents and the hundreds of different startup car brands were eventually consolidated into a few large American companies whose brands we still purchase today.
Below, Kelchner's Garage was advertised as a Remington Tire dealer, along with multiple other Montgomery County dealerships. Reed Brothers sold Fisk Tires, and later Firestone brand. (Sentinel, 1923)
Dr. Jacob Bird outside Montgomery General Hospital, 1918. Dr. Bird was an avid motorist who made housecalls throughout the county in various automobiles starting in 1910. (Montgomery History)
At right, advertisements for two other Rockville-based dealers in the 1920s-- Cashell's Garage and Meeds & Montgomery. (Sentinel, 1920; 1925)
Above: Brosius Brothers' "Montgomery Garage," selling Hupmobiles, Hudsons, Essex and other brands, 1923. Note the "island" of fuel pumps out front, selling Texaco gasoline.
Below, the Montgomery County Motor Car Company of Rockville, which was primarily a Chevrolet dealer. Both photos are likely from the 1920s, but the one on the left features a Texaco fueling station island that was later removed.
For more about Montgomery County's early automobile history, see the 2016 article by Patricia A. Andersen, published in the Montgomery County Story: "Automobiles in Early 20th Century Montgomery County."
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