Where to Drink a Beer in 1900 in the District of Columbia

When a Republican Congresswoman accused Democrats of drinking on the House floor during the multiple rounds of voting for Speaker of the House in the past week, my mind drifted back to a bar near the Capitol that I once frequented many years ago known as the Tune Inn.  It was always popular with the Congressional staff crowd, and a few Congress persons too; I had staffer friends and meeting there was a common occurence.  

Unfortunately for the politicians of 1900, there was no Tune Inn.  But there were options.  One way to sort out where to go would have been to have consulted B. H. Warner Company's map of Washington, D.C.  In a pile of checks I acquired years ago that were all used and issued in the District of Columbia, I found both a B. H. Warner check and one from The Washington Brewery Company, which was located very near the US Capitol.

B. H. WARNER Co.

FEB

9

1900

Brainard Henry Warner himself signed the check above.  B. H. Warner & Company was involved in a variety of businesses in the District of Columbia at the turn of the century, but one of the company's enduring legacies comes from their publication of a D. C. street map.  A new arrival to the city, such as a new Congressman, might have familiarized himself with the city's layout by studying this map.  The District of Columbia at that time was a much smaller version of its current self.  Georgetown and Georgetown University were then at the far edge of the District and its population.  Georgetown University's Healy Hall is illustrated at the far left side of the map.  I lived in the District in the late 1980s in a northwest neighborhood called Cleveland Park, which is only indicated on the 1886 map as a nearly rural area that has a house owned by Grover Cleveland.

It occured to me that Congressmen might have become thirsty after multiple rounds of voting for a new Speaker of the House, and I'm sure they were interested in finding a nice beer garden or other suitable drinking spot within range of the Capitol.  Turns out there was a spot only blocks away!

B. H. Warner's Washington street map from 1886

Map inset showing the capitol building.  A thirsty Congressman could follow Maryland Avenue to 4th Street, NE, take a left, and walk three blocks to The Washington Brewery Company at block 811.

THE WASHINGTON BREWERY CO.

JUL

4

1900

1904 layout of the Washington Brewery Company with the brewery and a beer garden; plot map provides the street location and the block number.  

One option at the beer garden was Washington Brewery's Ruby Lager.

Washington Brewery Co., c.1910.  Washington Brewery Co. would close for good with prohibition.

Same Corner, present day