Illinois dealership now recognized as world’s oldest Harley dealer
Kegel Harley-Davidson in Rockford, Illinois, has received a new distinction from Harley-Davidson Motor Company after newly uncovered historical records pushed the dealership’s recognized start date back to 1909.
The Kegel family announced Sept. 12 that Harley-Davidson confirmed an Aug. 9, 1909, start date for the dealership, making Kegel Harley-Davidson the world’s oldest Harley-Davidson dealership, according to the dealership. The discovery resolves a decades-old question surrounding the dealership’s history.
The Kegel family had previously relied on a March 30, 1912, date recognized by Harley-Davidson. Family members continued researching the dealership’s history and recently uncovered newspaper records documenting the August 1909 transfer of a Freeport, Illinois, motorcycle and bicycle business to Joseph and Julius Kegel. That business was already a Harley-Davidson agency.
According to Kegel’s historical research, Joseph Kegel was 20 years old when he purchased the business from Joseph Redlinger on Aug. 9, 1909. The Kegel family has operated the business continuously since then.
The new designation changes the way Kegel’s history is described within the Harley-Davidson dealer network. The dealership had previously been recognized as the oldest family-owned Harley-Davidson dealership, while A.D. Farrow Harley-Davidson in Columbus, Ohio, has long been billed as “America’s Oldest Harley Dealer.”
Farrow was founded in 1912 and has continued to use the “America’s Oldest Harley Dealer” designation. The dealership’s current website still identifies Farrow as America’s oldest Harley dealer.
The distinction between the two dealerships has historically involved both start dates and ownership. In a 1997 statement cited by Kegel, Harley-Davidson identified Kegel as the oldest family-owned Harley-Davidson dealership and A.D. Farrow as the oldest Harley-Davidson dealership under its then-current ownership category.
Kegel says the newly uncovered documentation prompted Harley-Davidson to reevaluate its historical records.
“Finally, the ad that kept the conversation going about being older than Harley-Davidson thought,” the Kegel dealership said in announcing the discovery, referring to historical newspaper records documenting the dealership’s early Harley-Davidson business.
The dealership celebrated the newly recognized history with a community event in Rockford on Sept. 12.
Kegel Harley-Davidson remains family-owned and operated, with the current ownership representing the third and fourth generations of the Kegel family. The dealership moved from Freeport to Rockford in 1923 after Joe Kegel acquired an existing Harley-Davidson dealership there.
The latest development adds another chapter to the history of Harley-Davidson’s early dealer network — and creates a new distinction for two dealerships that have each spent decades laying claim to a place at the top of the brand’s longevity list.
