Gayheart Drug Store


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Gayheart Drug Store, 202 E Davis Street, Culpeper VA (1928-1934) 1,2
  Gayheart Drug Store, 114 E Davis Street, Culpeper VA (1934-1953) 2,3
  Gayheart Drug Store, 101 E Davis Street, Culpeper VA (1953-2002) 3

Notes:
Marshall David Gayheart Sr. (1901-1985)x worked for the Morris Drug Store prescription department for 4 years before purchasing the Fairfax Pharmacy.1

The store was on the corner of East and Davis Streets (202 E Davis Street). Before it was the Fairfax Pharmacy, it had been Macoy's drug store.Y

In March of 1934, Gayheart moved to a new location further up Davis Street, to a building he had remodled. 2
It was at 114 E Davis Street. The buildings have changed a bit since then, and I beleive it is the building that is currently 110 E Davis Street. I base this on a photo in the Richmond Times Dispatch, 5-Nov-1950, page 89, which shows the Gayhearts building.

In 1953, Gayheart bought the building at 101 E Davis Street (corner of Davis & Main Streets), which had been Bruce's drug store. That location housed the Gayheart drug store until it closed in 2002. 3

Based on the labels of some of the bottles below, Gayheart's was part of the Rexall chain of drug stores .


Gayheart Drugstore Bottles:

gayheart_01 This is a clear 4.3" machine-made screw-top bottle with label:
label: GAYHEART DRUG STORE / the Rexall Store / MARSHALL GAYHEART, PROP. / CULPEPER, VIRGINIA
gayheart_05 This is a clear 4.3" machine-made screw-top bottle with label:
label: AROM. SPT. OF AMMONIA / ALCOHOL 62 to 68 PER CENT / ... / GAYHEART DRUG STORE / the Rexall Store / MARSHALL GAYHEART, PROP. / CULPEPER, VIRGINIA
gayheart_06 This is a clear 4.2" machine-made screw-top bottle with label:
label: THE Rexall STORE / GAYHEART / DRUG STORE / PHONE VA.5-8319 CULPEPER, VIRGINIA / SPT OF CAMPHOR


Other Items:
This is an ice cream carton from Gayheart's Drug Store. gayheart_02
This is a postcard of downtown Culpeper. The green building with the orange awning, on the left side of the street was once Gayheart's drug store. A much clearer photo of this building is in the Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper, Nov 5, 1950, on page 89 - in that photo you can make out the sign that says "GAYHEART'S".
gayheart_03
This is a photo taken March 2009 of the 3 buildings that housed the Gayhearts Drug Stores. The one on the right currently houses the Frost Cafe. gayheart_04
This is a somewhat modern postcard depicting the interior of Gayheart's Drug store, when it was located at 101 E Davis Street. gayheart_07


1 Virginia Star newspaper, 15-Mar-1928, p.1 (article: Gayheart buys stock of Fairfax Pharmacy)
2 Virginia Star newspaper, 8-Mar-1934, p.1 (article: New Quarters For Gayheart Drug Store)
3 Book: Images of America Downtown Culpeper by Diane Logan, p.10
x Find-a-grave for Marshall David Gayheart
Y Virginia Star newspaper, 05-Aug-1926, p.9 (article: New Drug Firm In Culpeper)
1 Richmond Times Dispatch, Nov 5, 1950, p.89 photo depicting Gayhearts drug store at modern day 126 E Davis St
3 "In & Around Culpeper - Walking & Driving Tours of a Virginia Piedmont Town", produced by the Museum of Culpeper History
4 Richmond Times Dispatch, Jun 7, 1985, p.18
5 Richmond Times Dispatch, Dec 30, 1931, p.9




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This page last updated on September 21, 2022.