1920 Brown & Holter Chevrolet Dealership

You must look very closely at the western wall or walk around to the alley to see any trace of the 1890 brick building that housed the Chevrolet car dealership in Cheney for 63 years. It was one of the earliest Chevrolet dealerships in the state, when George Brown and Norman Holter opened a Chevrolet, Dodge, Maxwell, and Studebaker dealership on October 1, 1920. The dealership was operated by the family until 1974.

What was here before? The entire block was destroyed in the fire of 18 April 1889. Before that disaster, this was a bustling commercial block of general merchandise stores, doctors' offices, a library, cobbler, drug store, meat market, plus a hardware and tin shop.

In February 1890, Thomas Quick purchased the site of the former hardware store from James J. White and erected a one-story, 25 by 80-foot brick building with a basement, high flat roof and a built-up upper-level façade with a front cornice. It had a center entrance door flanked by large display windows. You must really use your imagination to picture this. Quick and Charles Ulrich opened their dry goods store in November 1890. In 1904, Ulrich is listed as the sole owner of The Farmer's Store. That same year, as a bit of trivia, he was appointed Master of the Masonic Lodge in Cheney.

A series of owners continued the general merchandise business until around 1912 when automobiles began to become popular. This new mode of transportation needed new supplies and services, and the Cheney Garage opened to fill that need. In 1915, a new owner did some remodeling, this may be when the original building was expanded from 25 to 50 feet wide and went the full 88' back to the alley. By 1916, a 500-gallon underground gas tank had been dug into the street to provide for curbside gas pumps.

Some of the same issues of fuel and service availability that frustrated operators of the new gas-powered vehicles affect drivers of the new electric cars today. And some of the same arguments against the new vehicles are echoed today as well.

In 1917, garage owner Wes Barnett erected the additional building on the east side creating an auto dealership and garage complex that was 100' wide along 1st street.

On 14 October 1920, George Brown and his father-in-law, Norman Holter purchased the Cheney Garage. The partners repaired automobiles, as well as being the authorized dealers for Chevrolet, Dodge, Maxwell, Studebaker, and a few other, now forgotten, car companies.  They continued under the Cheney Garage name until around 1924 when they changed to Brown & Holter and began to focus more exclusively on the Chevrolet brand. That same year, they took over the corner lot at College Avenue for their used car lot.

In 1926, Norman Holter's son, Martin joined the team. Martin Holter opened a branch in Pullman in 1932. George Brown's son, Nolan, joined the Cheney dealership after graduating from Washington State College. Son, Robert Brown, worked with Martin Holter in Pullman after his graduation from college. Youngest son, Martin Brown managed a dealership in Colfax after his graduation.

George Brown died in 1945, and his three sons, Nolan, Robert, and Martin bought out the Holters, though they kept the name. Nolan Brown operated the Cheney dealership until his death in 1966.

After the Post Office relocated to its current location of 2nd Street, Brown & Holter expanded into that building. At this point, the company owned all the buildings on the block. The gas pumps at the corner service station appear to have been removed in the mid-1960s, and the garage was used as a repair and body shop until 1983.

The center, 507 address building was remodeled as a showroom, adding a second floor with offices while it was still Brown & Holter.

After 54 years, Brown & Holter Chevrolet was sold to Leland-Beaty in 1974, then Leach Chevrolet in 1979, and Anderberg in 1981. Gary Anderberg relocated the Chevrolet dealership in 1983, and the buildings on the block started housing separate businesses with new addresses (505 and 517).

After the dealership departed, the 507 building became a physical therapy and sports rehab facility, children's consignment clothing store, home to Body Language Tattoo, a thrift shop, and in 2020, Dr. Mundall's alternative medicine clinic. This seems to be when the address changed to 509 1st. The second-floor space was converted into apartments.

On the east side, the shell of that former Brown & Holter building is now used as a parking lot for the apartments. It had formerly been the parts and service operation of the dealership.

• Cheney Free Press 1932, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1983 
• Brown Family recollections
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1884, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1897, 1905, 1908, 1916, 1939.
• Southwest Spokane County Historical Society image collection
• Cheney Free Press, various dates
• Cheney phone books 1955 - 2010
• Google Street View historical images