# Racing up Reelsville Hill in 1914 > Source: > Published: 2026-08-21 09:00:00+00:00 While looking for more information in old newspapers about the timeline of road and bridge construction along the National Road/US 40 near Reelsville, Indiana, I found a terrific article in *The Brazil Times* on July 28, 1914, about a hill-climb event on the road there. This hill was a serious grade in its time, and one you still notice in modern cars. It extended from a covered bridge over Big Walnut Creek, and lasted only about 0.2 miles. Early automobiles were not, on the whole, powerful machines. A period Model T managed about 20 horsepower. Drivers dreaded hills, taking them slowly in low gear, hoping they could make it to the top. And most roads were dirt or gravel, making poor traction as much of a problem as lack of power. This article speaks of scaling this hill in *high* gear, with a passenger on board adding real weight. It was a feat for a period automobile. In case your eyes, like mine, have trouble making out all of the text in this scan, I had AI read it and output the text, which I’ve pasted below. ## WHERE IS TOP OF REELSVILLE HILL## DAN POLLOM’S HILL CLIMBING WAGER ENDS IN A CONTROVERSY OVER TOP OF HILL. ## CLIMBS BIG HILL ON HIGH ## Reelsville Citizens Flock Out to See Contest Which Attracts Many From Brazil—No Money Changes. Several automobile loads of Brazil automobile enthusiasts, scores of townspeople of Reelsville and automobile touring parties along the National road enjoyed an afternoon of rare sport on the famous Reelsville Hill yesterday afternoon at 4 o’clock, when Daniel Pollom, western Indiana and eastern Illinois agent for the Chevrolet automobile, raced up the Reelsville hill in high gear on a wager of about $100. When the news note was published in the papers last Saturday that Louis Chevrolet, the famous race driver and the designer of the Chevrolet “Royal Mail” had driven the little roadster up the hill on high gear at the rate of 25 miles an hour every other automobile agent and enthusiast who believed that their cars are about the best that are made, doubted the story. Bets began to be made. Harley Harrington, who drives a Jackson, wagered ten dollars that no machine can go up the hill with a passenger on high gear at any speed. Pollom took the bet and Logan McMillen, a railway mail clerk added twenty that the stunt could not be done. Pollom had his own supporters and the bets grew to about $100. The crowd left Brazil in the rain last evening, but fortunately the road at Reelsville was in good shape. Pollom put Harrington, who is a large man, in the little machine and started up the hill with a run for the bridge. Before hitting the grade to the bridge he threw the engine into high gear and raced through the bridge at the rate of 45 miles an hour. On the treacherous turn just outside of the bridge the machine wobbled badly and the back wheels went off the surface of the road at times, which caused the machine to lose considerable momentum. But the roadster kept grinding away until it reached the top of what the Reelsville people call the hill. Once over a bump which leads onto a level stretch of ground Pollom stopped his machine. Some said that he was not to the top and he released the clutch of the engine and the car went on farther. Those who were betting against Pollom shouted with joy, claiming that the second stretch of hill which they claimed composed the Reelsville hill had not been mounted. Pollom asserted this was not in the agreement and the affair ended in a big argument. Pollom agreed then to take Harrington to the Pleasant Garden hill top, but Harrington refused to ride. Pollom then mounted the hill alone to the summit on high gear with considerable ease and at a good rate of speed. Reelsville people say that two or three Fords have gone up the hill on high gear and the new Studebaker Six will do it. However, they regard the top of the hill as the bump that ends the first hill climb, and the people say that this is the first time, as far as they know, that a machine has ever gone from the bottom to Pleasant Garden on high gear. The crowd stood at the top of the first rise and Pollom said he stopped where the crowd was, thinking that was the understanding as to the top of the hill. When someone yelled “go on” he says he released the engine, still in high, and mounted the last section, or the “second hill,” but Harrington jumped out and did not take the last section with him. Pollom is confident that the little machine will carry Harrington up to the farthest end of the hill, or as far as he wants to go and it is very likely that the event will be run over again. Here’s a downhill view toward the covered bridge. Notice the quick, sharp S curve drivers had to make coming right out of the bridge on their uphill climb. It would have broken some of the momentum drivers had built crossing the bridge. Here’s the view from the bottom of Reelsville Hill today. But this view is from a bridge completed in 2005 or 2006. It replaced a 1928 concrete-arch bridge that I believe stood where the covered bridge had stood until it was [destroyed in an accident](https://blog.jimgrey.net/2026/06/04/the-national-road-and-us-40-bridges-over-big-walnut-creek-in-putnam-county-indiana/). The concrete-arch bridge has been preserved in place, so I walked out onto it so you could see how much effect the new bridge had on reducing the initial grade. The new bridge also eliminated that quick S curve, creating a straight path. My car has 224 horsepower and makes the grade with no trouble. This video of me doing just that shows you that this is still a serious hill, at least for Indiana. I love how the 1914 article illustrates what driving was like then. This is before even major roads like this one saw any modern improvements, and was at a time when cars were still on the whole quite primitive. A wooden covered bridge followed by a quick curve and then a steep uphill on what was probably a dirt road, with 20 horsepower underhood? All in a day’s driving. What I also find fascinating is not whether Pollom succeeded in the climb. By the end of the article, everyone seems to agree that he did. The argument was over where Reelsville Hill ended. To outsiders, the challenge was climbing a steep hill in high gear. To the people who lived there, the road consisted of multiple rises extending toward Pleasant Garden. Pollom stopped where the crowd was gathered, believing he had reached the top. The locals disagreed. More than a century later, the newspaper preserves not just a hill-climbing contest, but a glimpse of how residents understood the landscape around them. The article also reveals that Reelsville Hill was already a destination for early motorists. People drove ten miles from Brazil to watch. Automobile dealers wagered money on the outcome. Louis Chevrolet’s earlier ascent was newsworthy enough to be discussed weeks later. In 1914, this was one of the best-known automotive challenges in the area. Perhaps most striking is how much attention and involvement early motoring demanded of the driver. Pollom was not simply applying horsepower to a grade. He built speed before the bridge, raced through the covered bridge itself, negotiated that quick S curve, and then carried enough momentum into the climb to avoid a downshift. On an unimproved road, maintaining momentum was as important as engine power. Of course, conditions like these barely exist anymore. I know of some back Indiana roads like this, but hardly anybody has to drive them because the nearby highways are all so good. For example, this is what US 40 looks like today just a mile east of Reelsville. This is a “set your cruise and enjoy the music on the radio” road. What’s even *more* interesting is that this modern highway was only 20 or 25 years in the future when men like Pollom proved their cars’ worth on Reelsville Hill. Those same men likely watched this get built, and later drove on it! To get Down the Road in your inbox or reader six days a week, [click here to subscribe](https://blog.jimgrey.net/follow/)!