Stephenville Drug Stores
Stephenville, Erath County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Local drug stores were an important and essential part of the economy and well-being of early Texas towns. This site at the corner of Washington and Belknap streets served as the location of a series of Stephenville drug stores from 1899 until 1994. The original proprietor was F. A. Schnabel, who contracted for this building to be built in October 1897, and hauled the brick for the building from the new brick plant in nearby Thurber. Schnabel operated the business until 1905, when he sold it to Frank S. White. Subsequent owners of the pharmacy were Swan Richardson, Daniel and Louise D'Arcy, Bill Riddick, John Baker, and finally, Eckerd Drug Company. (2009)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On the corner of Washington and Belknap, a single 1897 brick building — its bricks hauled from the coal-and-brick company town of Thurber — housed a continuous run of Stephenville drug stores for nearly a century. From founder F. A. Schnabel in 1899 through a string of local pharmacists and finally Eckerd, the corner served as one of the essential gathering points of small-town Texas life until 1994. The soda fountain and prescription counter were as much civic institutions as commercial ones.
Why it matters
The corner drugstore was a fixture of American Main Street life, and this unbroken 95-year run captures how such places anchored the health and social fabric of early Texas towns.
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Related people
- · F. A. Schnabel
Themes & tags
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