Dowell's Pharmacy / Shannon's Pharmacy


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Dowell's Pharmacy, Manassas VA
  Shannon's Pharmacy, Manassas VA

Notes:
I don't have any bottles from Dowell's pharmacy, but I have a few related items, depicted below.

William Fred Dowell (c.1882-1961) was a druggist in Manassas1.
Dowell's pharmacy opened c.1909, and by 1925 included a Soda Fountain. The address of the pharmacy in 1941 was 202 Centre Street at Battle Street.2
I beleive that is modern day 9110 Centre Street, but I have not been able to verify that. The original building (based on the postcard shown below) doesn't seem to be at that location any more, but the newer brick building at 9110 Centre Street looks similar.
Dowells pharmacy lasted until at least 1942, as the last reference I could find to it was from that year3.

A letterhead for the pharmacy from 1910 lists Dr. Walter Shannon as well as W. Fred Dowell, so that might explain why the postcard below ambiguously says "Dowell's Pharmacy" on the bottom edge, but the sign on the window says "Shannon's Drug Store".


Dowell Pharmacy items:

dowell_01 This is a prescription from the Dowell's Pharmacy - unfortunately it does not have a date on it. It says:
DOWELL'S PHARMACY / "The Rexall Store" Manassas, Virginia / Rx For___ Date ___ / ADDRESS ___ / Borix Acid ...
dowell_02 This is a postcard that says "Dowell's Pharmcy, Manassas, Va." on the bottom edge, and it's postmarked 1911. The strange thing is, the pharmacy it depicts says "SHANNON'S / DRUG STORE" in the window, the awning on the left says "SHANNON", and the white sign by the door says "SHANNON'S EGG NECTAR".


1 US Census for the years 1920 & 1940 list William Fred Dowell drug store owner/proprietor in Manassas
2 "Manassas Virginia 1870-1970 Businesses" by Ronald Ray Turner
3 The Manassas Journal Newspaper, Thursday Dec 31, 1942, ad for Dowell's Pharmacy




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This page last updated on March 5, 2019.