Raedy & Walsh


Company Names, addresses, dates1:
  Raedy & Walsh, 701 N. Capitol NE, Washington DC (1886)
  Raedy & Walsh, 703 & 705 N. Capitol NE, Washington DC (1887)
  John Raedy, 701 N. Capitol, Washington DC (1879-1888)
  Thomas Walsh, 499 11th West, Washington DC (1865)
  Thomas Walsh, 942 F Street NW, Washington DC (1870-1887)
  Thomas Walsh, 1200 E Street NW, Washington DC (1889-1894)
  Thomas Walsh, 933 D Street NW, Washington DC (1895-1899)
  Thomas Walsh, 407 10th Street NW, Washington DC (1902-1908)


Notes:
 John Raedy teamed up with Thomas Walsh (b. 1838 in Ireland, d. 1904 in Wash DC) to form Raedy & Walsh. They bottled beer and soda-pop2. The partnership Raedy & Walsh only shows up in the 1886 & 1887 city directories, where they are listed under 'bottlers'. Raedy & Walsh each show up individually as saloon owners in various years.
A newspaper article from 1886 said that a building inspector had notified Messrs John Raedy & Thomas Walsh that their building structure in the rear of 701 N. Capitol Street was in violation of building regulations3. So I'm guessing that they constructed a building that was separate from Raedy's saloon that would allow them to do their bottling. I suspect that was the building that would become known as 703 & 705 North Capitol Street.
On January 13, 1887, Thomas D. Harper took over the bottling plant at 703 and 705 North Capitol Street from Raedy & Walsh. Harper became the Sole agent for the Philip Best brewing company, a predecessor to the Pabst Brewing Company 6.

    John Raedy
John Raedy shows up as a Saloon owner in city directories from 1879 to 1888. I can find no mention of him after 1888, so I suspect he either died or moved out of the city on or after 1888.

    Thomas Walsh (b. 1838 in Ireland, d. 1904 in Wash DC)
John Raedy shows up as a Saloon owner in city directories from 1865 to 1908. Since it appears he died in 19044, I'm not sure how he seemed to run his saloon until 1908 - maybe the obituary I saw had the wrong Thomas Walsh.
An 1877 newspaper article discussed Walsh's new building at 10th & F streets (aka 942 F street), describing it as a 4 story brick building with a basement that had extensive ale vaults. It also said the first floor had a "Ladies' Saloon"5.


Bottles:

raedy_01 book # 574
This is a 6.7" aqua hutchinson bottle embossed:
cigar slug plate: RAEDY & WALSH / TRADE R&W MARK / WASHINGTON, D.C.
base: No 2


1 Boyd's Directory for the District of Columbia (various years)
2 Daily Critic (Washington DC), August 13, 1886, page 1
3 Evening Star (Washington DC), April 22, 1886, page 4
4 Evening Star (Washington DC), December 8, 1904, page 5
5 Captiol (Washington DC), October 28, 1877, page 1
6 Washington Historical sketches of the City of our Country by John P. Coffin




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This page last updated on August 1, 2015.