How do you get into River’s End Speakeasy?
We have not confirmed it. River’s End Speakeasy is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
The drinks at River’s End Speakeasy
How the venue describes itself: “Galvin’s Delicatessent is a New York style deli in downtown Fredericksburg serving fresh to go food including sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts. Best sellers are the corned beef reuben, the turkey rachel, matzo ball soup, and tallow fries!” (from its own website, retrieved 9 October 2026)
The current drinks list is published on the venue’s own site — see the menu.
Beyond what the venue publishes we have not verified a list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Mary Pickford, El Presidente, and Hotel Nacional Special are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
The building
Documented — River’s End Speakeasy occupies the Fredericksburg Town Hall and Market Square, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 94000683. The listing is a federal record maintained by the National Park Service, and the nomination document is the primary source for the building’s architectural and social history.
National Register reference 94000683 · NPS nomination document
Where River’s End Speakeasy sits
River’s End Speakeasy is in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the county of the same name, in the South Atlantic of the United States.
This is currently the only verified hidden bar our directory lists in Fredericksburg. If you know another, tell us.
Virginia holds 30 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Virginia speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Virginia
Virginia did not wait for the federal government. Statewide prohibition took effect here in 1916, four years before the Eighteenth Amendment came into force nationally on 17 January 1920. By the time the Volstead Act was being enforced across the country, Virginia already had an established illegal trade and the habits that went with it.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Virginia.
What the newspapers recorded in Virginia
Searching the Library of Congress run of Virginia newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Virginia:
- Richmond times-dispatch, February 11, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Richmond times-dispatch, March 7, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Richmond times-dispatch, October 17, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Richmond times-dispatch, January 2, 1921 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
Hours published by the venue:
- Saturday: 9am-6pm
- Sunday: 9am-3pm
Hours as published on the venue’s own site, retrieved 9 October 2026.
You can reach River’s End Speakeasy by phone on (540) 940-6733, through its own website, and on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
The address is 216 William St, Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5830. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For River’s End Speakeasy we hold street address, telephone number, official website, social accounts, opening hours, a published drinks list, and a listed-building record. We do not yet hold an online booking link.
It is in the directory because its own name calls it a speakeasy.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.