LeBar Motor Company

It was in 1913, ten years after the founding of the Ford Motor Company, that John D. LeBar Sr. opened, at a small facility in Douglas, one of the first Ford dealerships in the state of Wyoming. Seven years and three stages of construction later, LeBar had completed the blocklong structure that occupies the site today. The three separate phases of construction are clearly reflected in the west façade, despite the close similarities among the conjoined units. That such expansion was possible in so short a period of time attests to the speed and vigor with which the automobile industry as a whole expanded, in early 20th century America. Already by 1920, there were six commercial automobile garages in Douglas (including the Morsch Garage)—a city whose total population at the time was less than 2,300. In the sparsely-populated state of Wyoming as a whole, with cities few and far between, the automobile was received with particular eagerness. At Douglas, for example, auto enthusiasts established the “Good Roads Club,” which aggressively promoted construction of an automobile route from Cheyenne to Yellowstone Park—by way, naturally, of Douglas’s own 4th and Center Streets. While located virtually on the south shoulder of the new Yellowstone Highway, LeBar Motors offered the latest Ford models, in addition to service, parts, and accessories. The garage remained a Highway landmark until the LeBar family sold the business, around 1960—after which, the enterprise was known as Messick Sales and Service. Today, and for the foreseeable future, different routes are traveled, and a Ford is but one choice amongst many. And the LeBar complex, although still in use, appears to be basking alone, in the quiet of a hard-earned rest.