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Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary: A Portal to HistoryBy Craig LanctoAt Burke and Herbert Bank on the corner of King and South Fairfax Street, Hunt and Taylor Burke continue the family banking tradition begun by John Muse Burke and his partner Arthur Herbert in 1852. Across the street, at 105-107 South Fairfax, the restored and newly reopened Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum represents another long-held family business. Founded by apothecary Edward Stabler, a Quaker, the shop served such famous citizens as the George Washington family, James Monroe and Robert E. Lee. From 1792-1933, first the Stablers and then son-in-law Leadbeater operated the early pharmaceutical company that in its heyday of manufacturing and sales occupied the entire block.
Edward Stabler, an itinerant Quaker preacher and
abolitionist, founded his apothecary in what is now the Thai Old Town restaurant
on the corner of King and South Fairfax streets, directly opposite Burke &
Herbert. He passed the business on to his son, William.
Another such example is the outline of the original staircase that is visible behind the new fire stairs at the back of the shop.
During the War Between the States, the Apothecary shop was threatened when the Quaker owner refused on principle to sign a loyalty oath, swearing allegiance to the Union. Finally, the owners prevailed when a local judge who had long patronized the apothecary personally vouched for Mr. Leadbeater. This shop, a few blocks from the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, is where the Union troops came to buy hot drops, a combination of capsaicin (the hot in hot chili peppers) and alcohol, after the first Battle of Manassas.
When the shop closed in 1933, the owner simply locked the doors, leaving a rich trove of merchandise, equipment, ingredients and documents for posterity. Most of the buildings’ architectural features are original, and although the museum shop, in what had been the manufacturing side of the apothecary, has the bright lights and dashing design of countless other museum shops, but crossing the threshold into the store, with original bottles and glass fronted cases, is about the closest to stepping into history a visitor is likely to come.
Pharmaceutical historian George Griffenhagen, author of A
Guide to Pharmacy Museums and Historical Collections in the United States and
Canada, describes the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary On working through the history, the rich archives, and the abundance of herbs and other merchandise, Liz Williams, assistant director of Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, said, “It’s a world of discovery on so many levels.” And so it is for those visitors fortunate enough to enter this modern portal to history. Craig Lancto publishes the Sun Newspapers of Alexandria, Del Ray Sun and West Alex Sun, in Northern Virginia. |
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In
colonial America, the apothecary provided medicines for affluent families, but
for those who were less so, they were also an urgent care clinic. But they also
carried everything from garden hoses and paint to garden seeds.
As
business grew, they expanded through one shop after another until they occupied
everything from 101-111 south Fairfax Street. Exposed brick visible at the
bottom of shelves in the north wall the gift shop at 105 limns where a doorway
once opened to 103. It is one of many neat touches to the museum that allow
visitors to feel the history of the shop.
In 1852, the business passed to son-in-law John Leadbeater,
believed to be the author of the gothic touches that overlay the Federal style
of the old buildings, as he attempted to make his personal imprint on the
business.
The Civil War created new needs for medicines, and the
apothecary thrived, but after the war, when the shop relied on ordinary citizens
as customers, Stabler-Leadbeater which by then occupied the entire block 100
block of Fairfax, was in trouble.
The jars on the shelves are the original jars that were on
the original shelves. The fragile glass cases, the same.