O'Neil's Pharmacy


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  O'Neil's Pharmacy, 106 Maple St., Covington VA 1

Notes:
Virginia "Jennie" Agatha O'Neil (1888-1959)2 was the proprietor of this drugstore. It's very rare that I come accross a drugstore that was woman-owned, but this appears to be one.

The 1910 US Census listed her occupation as a saleswoman for a Livery Barn, at age 19. In 1913 she persued an Assistant Pharmacy Certificate in Norfolk. In 1917, she graduated with a pharmacy degree from the university of Maryland, and in 1919 the state of Virginia granted her a pharmacy "certifiate of reciprocity" from her Maryland degree.3
That seemed like a long time to become a pharmacist, and I have to wonder if that was just a struggle to learn the trade of pharmacy, or if it was a struggle to overcome roadblocks for women in that industry.

By 1920 she was running her own drug store in Covington VA. She continued to run said drugstore until at least 1930. By 1950, she had retired from the drugstore business. It doesn't appear that she was ever married. 4

The Virginia Phamacist newsletter from 19271 listed the address of her drug store as 106 Maple Street, which is the current home of the Virginia Career Works center building. I'm not sure whether or not that's the original building that hosted Jennie's drugstore.

Based on the embossing on the bottle below, this drug store eventually became part of the Rexall chain of drug stores .


Bottles:

oneil_01 This is a clear 4.5" mouth-blown bottle, embossed:
vertical: O'NEIL'S PHARMACY / The Rexall Store / COVINGTON, VA.


1 The Virginia Pharmacist, Annual Report of the Board of Pharmacy of Virginia, 1927
2 Find-a-grave for Virginia A. O'Neil
3 Richmond Evening Journal 21-Jan-1913 p.7, Baltimore Sun 2-Jun-1917 p.5, Richmond Virginian 24-Oct-1919 p.3
4 US Census for 1920,1930,1950, Jennie O'Neil living in Covington VA


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This page last updated on August 12, 2022.