Each car’s a page in Jerry’s Rice’s life, hundreds of them over a lifetime. Each one’s a story, and he’s excited to share the tale with Gladewater through East Texas Speed.
By day, it’s hard to miss at 222 S. Main St. with its recently refreshed art deco façade, towering picture windows and gleaming rows of pristine automobiles. By night, it’s stunning, impossible to miss when the red floodlights blaze to life and beckon passersby to get a glimpse of the past.
“Someone else said ‘museum’ and that sort of caught on,” Rice says with quiet pride.
The Santa Rosa, California, native is owner and operator of the showcase-storefront downtown, working alongside sons Jeremiah and Bayley.
In fact, the bulk of the business is online, Rice added, connecting collectors across the world with vintage memorabilia. From eBay to Etsy to Amazon and beyond, the local brick-and-mortar is a carefully curated display case for the enterprise, with plenty of breathing room between vehicles, clocks of all kinds, models, hot rod toys, authentic and antique garage décor and more.
In the mix are family memories, first cars (and first tickets), road trips and restorations as well as the gleaming chrome of a young man’s first and lasting love.
The 1938 property had seen better days before the Rice family put blood, sweat, tears and motor oil into 222 S. Main.
“It’s a beautiful art deco building,” Rice said, happy to do the site justice.
After moving to Gladewater from California in 2023 with the purchase of Walker Manor, Rice initially operated out of a 30-by-70 shop on that spot. It worked, for a while – the cars, collectibles and commerce demanded more.
“We ended up seeing this building over a year ago,” Rice said. “We decided to purchase it and bring it back to life.”
It’s quickly become a new anchor for traffic and energy on the southern tip of downtown. It’s spacious enough – for the time being – to give Rice what he needs most.
“It’s a better place to warehouse the cars.”
Especially with more incoming.