The dealership mural’s been covered for the better part of a century
As Lake Charles, Louisiana picks itself up from off its feet, the locals are discovering what Hurricane Laura uncovered. La. resident Jeremy Ross shared a photo with Moparian showing what the side of a brick building damaged by Laura looks like. Mother Nature’s handiwork uncovered original Dodge Brothers Motors dealership signage that’s probably been hidden from human eyes for close to 100 years.
Check out their photo below.
A quick Google search reveals little about the history of the Dodge Brothers Motors in Lake Charles, Louisiana since, by the time this dealership folded, any records would’ve been archived in the local paper, never making its way to the greater internet.
What we know is by the 1920s, Dodge was on a tear, making quality cars and light trucks since 1914. Even before Dodge started making and selling cars, based on reputation alone, over 20,000 requests for a dealership franchise were received.
We can assume who ever owned this building in the 1920s was one of the first to sell Dodge vehicles in Louisiana.
AllPar.com has done a great job chronicling all the early model Dodges that might’ve rolled off that Lake Charles dealership floor.
And Youtube is filled with videos of these early Dodge cars, many of them still in tip-top shape today.
In the photo we can see the entire side of the building wasn’t painted. Perhaps other signage covered the exposed red brick, this mural part of a larger dealership display.
Hand-painted, the letters stood the test of time, protected from the elements by a layer of cheaper materials meant to give the building a face lift.
Keen eyes will notice the font used in the ad above is the same font on the building.
Commenters in the original Facebook post tagged a nearby Dodge dealership in hopes a local business philantrophist will finish what mother nature started, revealing the rest of the mural and preserving it for posterity’s sake.
The building’s owner will have to decide, soon, what to do since a half-demolished building side won’t look good for business. In all likelihood, the original signage will be covered up again. I hope before they do, someone, at least, takes a decent photo.
