R. D. Wood Co - Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia, PA R.D. Wood Company was founded by Richard Davis Wood in 1803, and manufactured valves and pipe fittings out of a plant in Florence, NJ. Washburn Race & Samuel R.C. Mathews formed a company in partnership with Birdsill Holly, and starting around 1858 had their Race & Mathews patented hydrant manufactured by Niagara Mfg. Co. in Lockport, NY. Around 1871 Samuel R.C. Mathews took this hydrant business to the R.D. Wood Co., now located in Philadelphia, PA, producing the first hydrants seen here. Much later, R.D. Wood itself was bought out by Kennedy Valve in about 1963.
In the words of Christopher Wright -- "The R.D. Wood Company survives today in a vastly different form, as the Wawa Convenience Store Chain (familiar to those of you in PA, NJ, MD and recently VA). You can read the full story at the Wawa website. Although it does not mention the foundry, the R.D. Wood Co. was originally both a textile mill and foundry that also owned a dairy as a small side business. In order to sell their milk the dairy opened a convenience store in 1964 and the rest is history."
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The 1877 R.D. Wood Catalog provides a background about the development of this hydrant.
Indentifying Characteristics: These have a SHORT bonnet dome: |
0924 Nozzles: 1x 2½" Size: ~3" VO, 4" ID Dated: none Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71 Location: Jeff K. collection Photo: © 2002, J. Kaminski |
0923 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~3" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71 Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski |
2269 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~4" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71 Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2004, J. Kaminski |
1299 Nozzles: 1x 4½" Size: ~5" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Milwaukee, WI Photo: © MWW archives |
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We know very little about this model other than it's existence documented in these photos. It was apparently produced concurrently with the Mathews patent model, but its scarcity suggests that far fewer were made. |
0394 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~5" V.O. Location: ?? Photo: © ?? |
1298 Nozzles: 2x 4½" Size: ~5" V.O. Location: Milwaukee, WI Photo: © MWW archives |
1692 Nozzles: 3 x 2½" Notes: Similar to preceeding models, but with water crane extending from bonnet; operating nut is at 90 degrees to the mainvalve rod, and is connected via a bevel gear drive. The drawing is from an R.D. Wood advertisement of 1888. A shop drawing from 1901 shows the details of the ornamental bird's head at the end of the water crane. |
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These Mathews Patent hydrants have a TALL bonnet dome: |
2174 Nozzle: 1x 2½" Size: ~4" V.O. Dated: (none) Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71 Location: Jeff K. collection Photo: © 2004, J. Kaminski |
0226 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~4" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Pulaski, VA Photo: © Ethan Kennedy |
1700 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~4" V.O. Dated: (none) Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71 Location: Jeff K. collection Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski |
0984 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~4" V.O. Dated: 87 Pat. Dates: 1869, 84 Note: OD rib differs from #1700 Location: John A. collection Photo: © 2001, J. Anderson |
1399 Nozzles: 1x ~4½" internally gated Size: ~5" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71 Location: Steve P. collection Photo: © 2001, J. Anderson |
1414 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~5" V.O. Dated: (none) Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71 Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski |
0983 Nozzles: 2x 2½" Size: ~5" V.O. Dated: 91 Pat. Dates: 1869, 84 Location: John A. collection Photo: © 2001, J. Anderson |
1327 Nozzles: 2x 4½" Size: ~5" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Milwaukee, WI Photo: © MWW archives |
1713 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 4" Size: ~5" V.O. Dated: ? Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Bob D. collection Photo: © 2001, B. Dunn |
0878 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 5" Size: ~5" V.O. Dated: 84 Pat. Dates: 1858, 69, 71, Jan72, Apr72 Location: Jeff K. collection Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski |
0966 Nozzles: 3x 2½" Size: ~6" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001, J. Kaminski |
1715 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x 4" Size: ~6" V.O. Dated: ? Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Minnesota Photo: © 2002, B. Dunn |
0253 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x ~4" Size: ~6" V.O. Dated: ?? Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Toledo, OH Photo: © E. Kennedy |
These single tier bonnet internally gated hydrants are of later manufacture, and can be found on the High Pressure and Special models page of this feature. | ||
1495 Nozzles: 2x 2½" internally gated, 1x 5" Size: 6" V.O. Dated: 1898 Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001 J. Kaminski |
1413 Nozzles: 4x 2½" internally gated Size: 6" V.O. Dated: ??, Pat. Dates: ?? Location: Massachusetts Photo: © 2001 J. Kaminski |
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The following hydrants were actually made by Kennedy Valve (after they bought out R.D.Wood) and have 2 piece barrels; but are included here to display their obvious heritage. |
0018 Model: M-62 Nozzles: 2x 2½", 1x ~5" Size: ~6" V.O. Dated: 1983 Location: Washington D.C. Photo: © E. Kennedy |
1-tier bonnet | 2-tier bonnet, Part 1 , Part 2 | Hi-pressure, Special, & Flush models Unless otherwise noted, all contents of these WWW pages © 1996-01, FireHydrant.org |