The oldest automobile dealership in the US

A while back, it occurred to me that the oldest continuously operating automobile dealership in the US should have reached 100 years in business. But I did nothing about trying to identify what or where that dealership might be. Now I know.

According to Terry Horvath, the oldest dealership in the US is in Noblesville, Indiana, Hare Chevrolet. According to Horvath, the company got its start in 1847 building wagons, carriages, and buggies, and has been selling cars since shortly before the turn of the 20th century (its initial offerings included Hupmobiles, Studebakers, and Cadillacs). Here's the list of the ten oldest dealerships, dated by their date of original operation, which in most cases was probably not as a car dealership:

1847, W. Hare & Son, Inc., Noblesville, Indiana
1852, Schaefer & Bierlein, Inc., Frankenmuth, Michigan
1859, Reynolds' Garage & Marine, Inc., Lyme, Connecticut
1875, Kemmann Chevrolet, Inc., Lowden, Iowa (no website that I could find)
1875, Normandin Chrysler/Jeep, San Jose, California
1885, Moser Motor Sales, Inc., Berne, Indiana
1895, Ferman Motor Car Co., Inc., Tampa, Florida
1897, Hill International Trucks, LLC, East Liverpool, Ohio
1898, Eich Motor Co., St. Cloud, Minnesota
1900, Diehl Ford, Inc., Bellingham, Washington

This confirms something I have long believed--that Indiana was car-crazy from the beginning: Two of the 10 oldest are in Indiana. And a location in Noblesville makes some sense; it's essentially a suburb of Indianapolis (and has been for a long time). But Berne? It's about half-way between Muncie and Ft. Wayne, in the northeastern part of the state. on U.S. 27. About 4,400 population, income below the Indiana state average (which is itself below the US average). I am somewhat surprised by a car dealership surviving in Berne for more than 100 years.