If it seems as if the row of car dealerships on South Brand Boulevard has been there forever, you're close. Brand has been home to car dealers for nearly as long as Glendale has been a city.
Brand Boulevard of Cars had its beginnings in 1915, when Jesse E. Smith opened a Ford dealership. Soon, others followed. At first, the dealers were clustered north of Colorado Street, according to the Glendale News-Press, Jan. 26, 1978.
By 1920 the dealers had formed the Glendale Motor Car Dealers Assn. George Clayton, the Dodge dealer, was elected as the first president; other members included Stephan Packer, W.H. Tanner, Jesse E. Smith, Porter Kelley, C.L. Smith and E.L. Sutton.
Within five years, there were 18 dealers and a need for legal counsel, so they retained the services of a brand-new law firm here in town; it had been founded in 1927 by Clency Hasbrouck and Aubry Irwin, both recent graduates of the USC law school. Irwin became the executive secretary of the car dealers association and served in that capacity for many years.