Well, I’m sitting here with Internet access and nothing to do, so I may as well blog about my second job. I give tours and work the front desk at an apothecary museum:
The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum is located in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. It operated under the same family for 141 years from 1792 to 1933. (It closed down mostly due to the depression and other factors such as competition from chain drug pharmacies.)
The entrance to the museum is located at 105 South Fairfax Street. Admission is $4 for adults ($3 if you’re a AAA member), $2 for kids 11-17, and free for kids 10 and under.
During the off-season months, the museum is open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am-4pm, and Sunday, 1pm-4pm. From April 1st to October 31st, the museum is open Sunday and Monday, 1pm-5pm, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm. (If you’re in the DC area for Inauguration, we’re also open Monday the 19th 11am-4pm)
The tour consists of the retail shop, which dates originally from 1796, and the upstairs manufacturing room, which dates from around 1890.
In the retail shop, you can see the spot where Robert E. Lee (allegedly) got his orders to go to quash the rebellion at Harper’s Ferry, a note from Martha Washington in her own handwriting, and various items that were available for purchase, including bloodletting devices, poison bottles, and even veterinary medications.
Upstairs, you walk back in time, as the manufacturing room has been preserved almost entirely from 1933. You can see drawers full of original herbs and ingredients, some of the original tools used in compounding medications a hundred years ago.
If you’re a pharmacist, pharmacy student, technician, or other health care worker, you’ll be blown away by this unique time capsule that preserves a large portion of the history of our profession.
(And now for the legal stuff: PharmCountry is not owned or affiliated by the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum or the Office of Historic Alexandria. No recompense was offered or solicited for this post, and my opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the City of Alexandria, it’s departments, or their staff. So there. )
Seriously, though, if you’re in the area, check out the museum. It’s really a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
