The Brown Shanty’s Original Name: Wade’s Barbecue, Then Moran’s Barbecue

For its first year of existence, the little trailer-like structure near the corner of Mill and East Hoard Streets that most remember as The Brown Shanty served up Barbecue as Wade’s Barbecue.

Opening in 1932, Wade’s Barbecue would start a long-standing tradition of sponsoring teams in the City’s softball league that played at North Junior’s diamonds.  Upon opening, they also advertised “something new” in the form of a fish fry every Friday and Saturday.

In 1937, the place would undergo a name and ownership change to Moran’s Barbecue for short as seen in advertisements, or as seen in the photo, Moran’s Old Fashioned Southern Barbecue, a name that was more than a mouthful but undoubtedly just as finger lickin’ good.  Edward Moran, the manager and namesake, would operate operate in its location for five years (though the advertisements would list a Mrs. Bernard Singleton as proprietor.)

Six years later, in 1943, Raymond E. Mattraw, of nearby 102 East Hoard Street, filed an assumed name certificate for a business at the location under the title, “The Brown Shanty Restaurant.”  The Brown Shanty would have its grand opening on New Year’s Eve of that same year. Over the years, the bar was a popular watering hole and sponsored softball teams in the Jefferson County League and a bowling team.

In November of 2005, the Brown Shanty was damaged in a fire. City public crew workers attending to a downed tree limb near neighboring Shuler’s Restaurant at 3:30 am noticed smoke coming from the rear of the Shanty and turned it over to the fire department.

The shanty was uninsured, and, according to a Watertown Daily Times article published November 30—

Combustibles located too close to a light in a storage closet at the east end of the building are believed to have caused the blaze, Capt. Randall said. Three doors to the building were all secured when fire units arrived and had to be forced open, indicating there was no suspicious activity involved, said Battalion Chief Edward M. Brown. 

Firefighters found flames in the storage room, which was filled with numerous bags of wood pellets for a stove, he said. 

While the firemen were able to save the structure from ruin, there was uncertainty whether it would ever open again. John Rice, who leased the property, stated it was still owned by the estate of Richard A. Mattraw.

The following year, in 2006, the dilapidated and boarded-up shanty was razed after neighbors complained of its condition.