Drugstores were Kingstree's Meeting Places

Last week's post noted that during the flood of 1916, only the drugstores in Kingstree opened for business. The town's drugstores were very much the community's meeting places, providing far more than medication to the townspeople.

Dr. W.V. "Jack" Brockington's drugstore, built 1905.

Photo courtesy Williamsburgh Historical Museum

Brockington's Drugstore on the southwest corner of Main and Academy streets began operating in the early 1870s. Dr. James Screven Brockington ran the drugstore in conjunction with his medical practice. His son, Dr. W.V. Brockington, known to Kingstree residents as "Dr. Jack," and to his college classmates as "Old Brock," continued the tradition, renovating the old store in 1896 and building a new brick store in 1905 on the same lot as the old wooden one. While the new building was under construction, he moved his business across the street into an empty building which once housed Kinder & Hirsch, a men's clothing store. John Grant of Marion laid the fancy brickwork for the new building.

In a 1907 article by James Henry Rice in The State newspaper, he described the interior of Brockington's Drugstore, noting that "a pretty cashier sits on a raised desk in the centre, looking after the delivery just as they do in large city stores." He noted that on Sundays when there was no mail train, The State was delivered to Brockington's where "Old Brock" distributed it.

Brockington Building, October 2018

The drugstore also provided other services to the townspeople. At least once a year, an eye specialist would spend from three days to a week at the drugstore, giving vision examinations and fitting glasses as needed. In 1909, Southern Bell installed a long-distance pay phone in the drugstore, allowing residents to go to the store to make long-distance phone calls. Dr. W. Leland Taylor's dentist office was on the second floor of the drugstore, and later Dr. E.O. Taylor used the second floor for his practice.

At one time, the drugstore advertised that it sold postcards of Kingstree, featuring 16 different scenes, with the slogan: Kingstree: Gateway to Opportunity. 

The carriage block Dr. J.S. Brockington used still sits in front of the old Brockington Drugstore.

In 1897, Dr. D.C. Scott opened a drugstore on the east side of Academy Street. He, too, offered many more services than just the compounding of medicines to treat his patients' ailments. In 1901, Kingstree's first bank, The Bank of Kingstree, opened for business in temporary quarters at Dr. Scott's drugstore until its building on Main Street was completed. 

Scott's was the place you went to buy tickets for Lyceum productions held at the school auditorium and later for tickets to events at the Thomas Opera House. Dr. Scott had copies of the Rev. H.F. Oliver's book, Along the Wee Nee's Banks: A Tale of Black River, for sale in his store.

Hi-Art Company, a photography studio, set up by a Wilmington, NC, photographer, opened on the second floor of Scott's drugstore in 1902. In 1903, the struggling Kingstree Telephone Exchange moved from the post office to the second floor of Scott's Drugstore. 

In August 1904, Scott's experienced break-ins on August 25, 27, and 28. The burglars entered through two different windows and stole $2 for the cash drawer, a Smith & Wesson pistol, and several small bottles of cologne. The entire town was puzzled by why the store was burglarized three times in four days.

In March, 1914, Dr. Scott moved to the Gourdin building on Main Street where he conducted business until a new brick building could be constructed on his lot on Academy. The new building had modern fixtures, a soda fountain, and offices for both Dr. Scott and Dr. T.S. Hemingway, who had recently joined him in his practice. In September, 1915, Dr. Scott sold his drugstore to Dr. Hemingway.

In 1902, Dr. W.G. Gamble broke ground on Main Street for a new, two-story drugstore next door to the Bank of Kingstree. An earlier store he had owned on Main Street burned in the 1895 fire that gutted most of the block across the street from the courthouse. J.W. Howle operated a restaurant, targeting those attending court, from the back of Dr. Gamble's earlier drugstore.

The Gamble Building, October 2018

When the new drugstore was completed, it was declared to be one of the "most handsome" buildings in Kingstree. Dr. Gamble was very proud of the fact that the new store was built solely by local artisans, with even the bricks having been made in Kingstree.

Architectural detail from the building that housed Gamble & Jacobs' drugstore.

In 1911, Dr. C.D. Jacobs went into partnership with Dr. Gamble. That same year, Dr. A.M. Snider opened his dentist office on the second floor of Drs. Gamble & Jacobs' drugstore, after his home and office on Railroad Avenue burned.

Another early drugstore in Kingstree was that of Dr. W.L. Wallace, located on a lot that is now encompassed by the Alex Chatman County Complex. Dr. Wallace practiced medicine in Kingstree and Williamsburg County for almost 50 years before his retirement. His drugstore, however, burned, along with all other buildings on the south side of Main Street from the Courthouse to Jail (Jackson) Street on December 31, 1906. By August 1907, Dr. Wallace had built a new brick, two-story building on the spot of the old store. Dr. E.T. Kelley practiced with Dr. Wallace when Dr. Kelley first moved to Kingstree from Timmonsville.

This portion of the Alex Chatman County Complex would have been

Dr. W.L. Wallace's drugstore in the early 1900s. Dr. E.T. Kelley merged

this drugstore with the Kingstree Drug Company in 1911.

In 1909, Dr. M.L. Allen opened a drug store next door to the post office on the west side of Academy Street. On March 24, he celebrated his newly installed soda fountain by offering free drinks to anyone who came to take a look at it. In May, he added a "Gillette" light which, according to The County Record, turned night to day at his drugstore. By December, he had installed oak-finished showcase counters in the store. The Civic League set up its Ladies' Exchange on Saturdays in a corner of Allen's Drugstore. There members of the league could bring handwork, baked goods and other items to sell, if they donated $1 a year to the League. In 1911, Elliot Rodgers opened an ice house in the back of Allen's Drugstore. Dr. Allen became pharmacist for Dr. T.S. Hemingway when Dr. Hemingway bought Dr. Scott's drugstore in 1915.

Photo of the Hirsch Building from The County Record, February 1911.

The Hirsch Building, October 2018

C.J. Epps, W.A. Smith, and Dr. E.T. Kelley formed the Kingstree Drug Company in 1911. This company would occupy most of the ground floor of the newly-constructed Hirsch Building on the east side of Academy Street. Dr. H.C. Hanahan of Columbia, was hired to manage the store. When Dr. Hanahan moved back to Columbia, Dr. E.P. Walsh of Conway replaced him. Dr. R.C. McCabe's dental office was located in one of the eight offices on the second floor, as was Edwin Hirsch's Law Office. Later in 1911, citizens could view plans for the town's proposed water and sewer system at the Kingstree Drug Company.

The doctors who ran the various drugstores assisted each other in treating citizens who were gravely ill, wounded, or had hurt themselves accidentally. One notable account of such shared consultations sent the town into a tizzy when all the town's doctors gathered at Dr. Scott's drugstore on a Saturday afternoon in 1898 to examine a young man from the Benson (Cedar Swamp) community who was thought to have small pox. The doctors consulted and all agreed that he was not afflicted with the dread disease, putting to rest the town's fears.