Oldest Apothecary in the United States

Old Town Alexandria has a lot of interesting restaurants, bars, stores and historical spots to visit if interested in the history of the United States. It is located in Virginia, only a 15 minute drive from Washington, D.C. Some of the most important figures in United States history lived in Alexandria during the pre-revolutionary period, the Revolution and the Civil War. General and eventual President George Washington and his wife Martha lived at Mount Vernon, 10 minutes outside of Alexandria, Civil War General Robert E. Lee and more.

One of the nation’s oldest businesses resides in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. It is the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary. This apothecary was founded in 1792 and did not go out of business until 1931 because of the depression. It still exists today as a museum and gift shop. The building has gone through renovations as recently as 2004. The apothecary was bought in 1932 by the Landmarks Society of Alexandria and was then donated to the City of Alexandria after its renovations were complete in 2006.

An apothecary was the early form or version of a modern day pharmacy. Apothecaries were responsible for mixing and selling drugs for illnesses as well as other everyday supplies such as paint. The apothecary’s most famous customer was Martha Washington. Washington routinely bought drugs there for herself and for her husband, especially when George was suffering from his eventually fatal illness. Two of the most famous apothecaries in the history of medicinal practice are Nostradamus and Benedict Arnold.

The most recognizable apothecary from ‘pop culture’ is the apothecary in Shakespeare’s story “Romeo and Juliet.” The apothecary gives Juliet a magic potion that will make her appear to be dead, even though she is just sleeping, and enable her to meet up with Romeo. Romeo is never informed of this trick against their parents and he finds Juliet ‘d ead.’ Romero then stabs himself and dies right before Juliet awakes from her sleep. Juliet, at the sight of her dead lover, takes the knife and kills herself as well. The most famous apothecary in the history of literature ironically killed two people when apothecaries were supposed to heal the sick. That’s the beauty of literature though.

The Old Town Alexandria apothecary is a quaint building; it occupies two storefronts that has a lot of the original pieces of medical equipment in it from when it closed its doors to business in 1931. The original vials, vats, medicine mixing utensils and funnels. The pieces of equipment sit in the same place they sat in when the building closed its doors to business decades ago. The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary charges adults for admission to the museum for tours that run every half hour. Apothecaries are the original pharmacies of the world. The word apothecary can be used for the store itself and the person who ru ns the store; known today as the pharmacist.

There are still businesses throughout the world and in the United States known as apothecaries instead of pharmacies but were not founded as early as 1792.

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