Russell & Rowe's


Company Names, addresses, dates: 1
  Russell & Rowe, 142 Sycamore Street, Petersburg VA, (1915)
  Russell Drug Co, 142 Sycamore Street, Petersburg VA, (1917-1918)
  Rexall Store, 142 Sycamore Street, Petersburg VA, (1920)
  Central Drug Store, 142 Sycamore Street, Petersburg VA, (1921-1929)

Notes:
 Donald Wilson Russell (1883-1949)2 teamed up with C.E. Rowe about 1915 to form the Russell & Rowe drug co. in 1915. 1
I beleive C.E. Rowe refers to Charles Edward Rowe (1860-19??)3.
They received their company charter in 1916, with Russell as the president and Rowe as the secretary.4

The Petersburg directory never listed the store as "Russell & Rowe" in the business section, it used the name "Rexall Store" or "Russell Drug Co". But the residential section listed Russell as the owner of "Russell & Rowe", and the name "Russell & Rowe" appeared in newspapers from 1916-1917. 4,5

Their business was short lived, as Russell doesn't appear in Petersburg directories after 1920, and Rowe appears to have created a new (non-drugstore) company called "The Rowe Mercantile Agency" in 1920.1


Bottles:
russell_01 This is a clear, 6.3" bottle embossed:
vertical: RUSSELL & ROWE / PHARMACISTS / 142 SYCAMORE ST. / PETERSBURG, VA.
horizontal on rear in oval slug plate: R PHARMACY R


1 Petersburg VA city directories for years: 1866,70,72,76-77,79,82,86,88,91,93,95,97,99,1901,03,05,07,09,11,13,15,17-18,20-22,24,27,29,31,33,35,37,39,41,43,48,50,52,54-55,57,59
2 Find-a-grave entry for Downald Wilson Russell
3 Ancestry.com entry for Charles Edward Rowe, b: Dec 1860 in N.Carolina
4 Richmond Virginian, 10-Aug-1916, p.6 (Charters Granted notice)
5 Richmond Times-Dispatch, 17-Jan-1917, p.9 (want ad for a pharmacist, Russell & Rowe)


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This page last updated on June 28, 2026.