Corwin-Churchill was a long-time Bismarck auto dealer and appliance store. Eide Chrysler is the successor to Corwin Churchill Motors. The appliance store dealer in downtown Bismarck, operating from 1935-2015.
History
Founded in 1914 by Samuel Wickham Corwin, the dealership originally sold Buick, Saxon and Mitchell automobile brands before becoming one of the first distributors of the Chrysler nameplate when it was introduced in 1924. One year later, Neil Churchill joined the dealership.
Corwin-Churchill established its namesake appliance store in 1935.
In 1937, the company purchased Murphy Motor in Fargo. Corwin moved to Fargo to head up operations there, while Churchill continued to manage the Bismarck location.
During World War II, the company temporarily switched its focus on wholesale automobile parts distribution.
Churchill retired in 1952 and sold his interest to the Corwin family. The Whittey family purchased both the Bismarck auto dealership and appliance store from the Corwins six years later, in 1958.
Ryan Auto Group Purchase
Minot-based Ryan Auto Group purchased Corwin-Churchill Motors in 2010. It became Ryan Dodge at that time. The new name signaled the company’s intention to apply a greater emphasis on the Dodge lineup, which was newly acquired from Cedric Theel, versus its legacy Chrysler line.
The Whittey family continued ownership of the appliance store until its 2015 closure.
Eide Ford Purchase
Longtime Bismarck dealership Eide Ford purchased the dealership in 2016, re-branding it as Eide Chrysler.
Locations
Corwin-Churchill Motors has had two locations in Bismarck, the first being downtown on the northwest corner of Main Avenue and Second Street. Fire destroyed that location in November 2003. While ruled as suspicious, the Corwin-Churchill building fire was never “unequivocally” proven to be arson.
The dealership now housing Eide Chrysler was completed in 1998 and coexisted with the downtown location for a short time. The former downtown building was completely destroyed by fire in November 2003. While suspicious, investigators could not prove the fire was arson.
The appliance store was located at 309 North Third Street.
