Several weeks ago, someone posted a photo in a Facebook group of an apothecary bottle which had the name Kingstree Drug Company embossed on it. It seemed fitting for this blog post to look at a little of the history of the Kingstree Drug Company.
The South Carolina Secretary of State chartered it October 1910, with capital of $5,000. The three men who petitioned for the charter were Dr. E.T. Kelley, C.J. Epps, and W.A. Smith. The company had plans to set up its business in the Hirsch Building on Academy Street, which was then under construction.
The building was completed in early February 1911. The County Record called it "one of the prettiest business houses in Kingstree." The contractor responsible for building it was C.E. Harris. The newspaper noted that the building "does credit to the builder's architectural skill, and is a distinct acquisition to the business part of town, both from a utilitarian and an ornamental standpoint." The building measured 33.5 feet by 55 feet and was set up with eight offices upstairs and three on the ground floor. The main part of the ground floor was occupied by the Kingstree Drug Company, with the law firm of Hirsch & Hirsch and the office of the Honorable R.H. Kellahan occupying the other two offices.
The front of the building was pressed brick, set off by an ornamental transom. The lower floor was constructed of tiles and cement throughout, according to the newspaper, which added, "the law offices are commodious and comfortable, fitted with modern appointments and a first-class library." Total cost for construction was $4,700. In today's money that would amount to $146,526.71.
All eight offices on the second floor had tenants when the building opened, although The County Record did not specify who those tenants were. From newspaper advertising, we know that dentist, Dr. R. Claude McCabe was one of them, and that Philip H. Arrowsmith's law firm occupied another. R.H. Pittman, a native of Gourdin, opened Williamsburg Realty, in one of the upstairs offices in 1912. He also practiced law, with M.A. Shuler as his associate. Attorney C.E. Saint-Amand also had a law and real estate office in one of the upstairs offices. Following Dr. McCabe's untimely death, in 1917, Dr. F.O. Lentz returned to Kingstree from Atlanta in 1921, and opened his dentist office in Dr. McCabe's old quarters.
The first druggist employed by the Kingstree Drug Company was Dr. H.C. Hanahan of Columbia. Dr. Hanahan had 10 years experience in the retail drug business in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Charleston, and Columbia. The Kingstree Drug Company was open from 7:30 a.m. until 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday and from 10:30-11:45 a.m. and 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Sundays. Dr. Hanahan, however, was available 24 hours a day to aid those who were ill.
The drugstore quickly became involved in community affairs. When the Town of Kingstree began serious discussions about providing public water and sewer, the plans and specifications were available for public inspection at Kingstree Drug. The company also sponsored prizes for the Williamsburg County Corn Club's contest for young people who gathered the largest yields from corn crops they had grown. In a letter to The County Record announcing Kingstree Drug Company's involvement in the contest, Secretary/Treasurer C.J. Epps noted that as he had been reared on a farm in Williamsburg County, he was interested in encouraging the agricultural pursuits of the county's young men.
In October 1911, Dr. Hanahan left to return to Columbia. He was replaced by Dr. Edward P. Walsh of Conway. In mid-1912, Dr. Walsh was replaced by Dr. C.C. Bean.
The Drug Company, however, continued its community involvement by sponsoring prizes in the Civic League's Cooking Contest and by contributing prizes to the school's annual field day. By 1913, the drugstore, along with the Nelson House, was also a drop-off spot for locals to leave their laundry. Levin and Nappie Nelson collected the clothing and sent it to Sumter for cleaning.
On November 20, 1913, Dr Bean was able to demonstrate the practical application of the camera the Kingstree Drug Company was advertising for sale when he used one of them to take photographs of the piled up train cars that resulted when a wreck occurred just south of the depot.
In October 1913, Dr, LeRoy Cates bought an interest in the Kingstree Drug Company. He would take over management of the business from Dr. C.C. Bean. Dr. Cates also employed Dr. F.M. Boldridge as a second pharmacist.
Dr. F.J. Inman, a Florence eye specialist, began coming to Kingstree every Thursday in 1915. He offered eye exams at the Kingstree Drug Company.
In September 1915, Dr. Sidney Carter of Darlington joined Dr. Cates as the second pharmacist.
On January 1, 1916, Kingstree Drug moved out of the Hisrsch building. The drugstore set up shop in a store built by R.H. Kellahan, two doors down from their old building. This building had formerly been occupied by a store operated by Harry Riff. Wallace McIntosh and Clarence Alsbrook opened a haberdashery in Kingstree Drug's old space in the Hirsch building.
Dr. Cates undertook renovating the Kellahan building in 1919. He built a new warehouse behind the store and renovated the front of the building as well. He also set up a room to use as on office. In January of 1920, the Kingstree Drug Company held a stockholders meeting to increase capital stock from $5,000 to $10,000. LeRoy Cates and C.W. Boswell were listed as officers of the company. By May 1920, they had installed a "large, new, and very handsome soda fountain."
It is possible that sometime between 1920 and 1922, Kingstree Drug moved back to the Hirsch building. In September 1922, it opened a seed division, selling garden and farm seed. The County Record noted that the seed division was in the Hirsch building and was managed by G. Ollie Epps. It also states that it was next door to the Kingstree Drug Company, which if it were in the Hirsch building and Kingstree Drug was still in the building to which it moved 1916, would not have been possible. However, earlier in 1922, J.R. Ritter Seed Store was located in the building between the Hirsch Building and Kingstree Drug, and it is also possible that Kingstree Drug took over that business.
During the late nineteen teens and early nineteen twenties, Dr. Cates employed a number of pharmacists, including Myron Lloyd, S.L. Gilleland, H.B. Brenecke, and J.H. Hawkins. In the summer of 1922, Gordon Rodgers of Lane, a student a MUSC, worked at Kingstree Drug Company.
In July 1927, as many businesses in Kingstree struggled, creditors of Kingstree Drug Company filed a petition against the company. I could find no other newspaper references to the company after that. However, in May 1928, Dr. Gordon Rodgers, then a registered pharmacist, and Dr. J.W. Davis of Scott Drug Company, opened a drug store of their own in the three-story Nexsen building on the corner of Academy and Main streets. Rodgers Drug Store had a long, productive tenure in that location.
