631 Blake Street
631 Blake Street became one of four locations for Baird Cleaners in 1962. At the time, in addition to 631 Blake Street, there were two other satellite addresses (237 W 21st Street & 315 Blake Street) as well as the main cleaning plant at 628 N West Street. The business was owned by Raymond Baird, a prominent member of the Indianapolis African American community.
Raymond Baird
Raymond Baird was born in Adairville, Kentucky in 1908 to Foster Baird and Mary Woodward. He first appears in the Indianapolis City Directory in 1933 but was in Indianapolis in 1931.
Baird attended college and was a prominent member of the Indianapolis African American community. For example, he and both of his wives (Willie before 1945 and Frances after 1954) were often featured in the society section of the Indianapolis Recorder. Mrs. Willie Baird was written about in the society pages as having been on vacation in Chicago in 1942 and for hosting a party for her brother in law in 1943. Additionally, Mrs. Francis Baird was listed as a member of the planning committee for the Mardi Gras Ball in 1965 as well as other events.
Raymond Baird was also integral in helping the Indianapolis Kappa Alpha Psi Alumni Chapter (of which he was a member) purchase a new chapter house which the Indianapolis Recorder called the “Kappa Kastle.”
An Active Member of the Indianapolis Business Community
In 1939, Baird was elected president of a local business organization. Then, in 1947, the Indianapolis Recorder listed him as a member of the Midwestern Business Association. According to a 1951 article in the Indianapolis Recorder, the group was formed in 1947 “following several surveys to determine the cause of failures of some Negro business organizations.”
Baird Cleaners
Raymond Baird started in the dry-cleaning business in 1931 as a partner to J. L. English at 615 Indiana Avenue. However, in 1932 he opened Baird’s Hatters and Cleaners at 632 Indiana Avenue and moved the business into its long-term cleaning plant in the Madame C. J. Walker Building at 625 Indiana Avenue in 1934. By 1939, he had purchased a delivery truck and had expanded his services from just cleaning and reshaping hats to clothing.
In 1942 and 1943 the plant had two fires which were started while employees were hand-cleaning hats. In the first fire, 17-year-old, Johnny Haynes was severely burned and the inside of the business was almost completely destroyed. Then, following the rebuilding of the business, there was a second fire resulted in another 17-year-old employee named Hugh Hubbard being severely burned. Raymond Baird and a second employee, Robert Tubbs, received minor burns. Following this event, Baird decided to stop hand cleaning hats and there were no more fires reported.
The mid 1940s, brought a change of name (from Baird Hatters and Cleaners to simply Baird Cleaners) as well as continued growth. By 1948, the business had a second location at 237 W 21st Street, a delivery truck, and employed seven people. Some of the people employed by Baird Cleaners at various times over the years were William Baird, John Baird, Frances Irene Ealy, Mrs. Susie Jennings, Bertha Roberson, Robert Tubbs, Hugh Hubbard, John Grimes, Johnny Haynes, and Juanita Mae Duvall.
Over the course of the 1950s and early 1960s a number of new locations were advertised including 315 Blake Street in 1954, 304 Blake Street in 1955, 629 Blake Street in 1959, and 631 Blake Street in 1962. However, the big change happened in 1958 when the cleaning plant moved from its long-term location in the Walker building to 628 N West Street which prompted numerous advertisements of the new location and an article in the Indianapolis Recorder.
631 Blake Street Today
In 1975, when Indiana Landmarks photographed the neighborhood, 631 Blake Street was still part of Baird Cleaners. It would continue to be listed as a Baird Cleaners location until 1983, the year Raymond Baird died. After Baird Cleaners was gone, the building sat vacant from 1984 until it was torn down sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Today the lawn around IUPUI's North Hall sits in its place.
Written and edited by Hannah Ryker, March 6, 2020