Purcellville Pharmacy / N. Guy Miller


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Purcellville Pharmacy (N. Guy Miller Proprietor), 107 W. Main Street, Purcellville VA
  Purcellville Pharmacy (N. Guy Miller Proprietor), 21st Street, Purcellville VA
  Edwards Purcellville Pharmacy, Purcellville VA (ca.1969-1970) 1

Notes:
Nelson Guy Miller (1877-1941)2 was the proprietor of the Purcellville Pharmacy, as early as 1908.3

The book "Images of America - Purcellville" shows a 1908 photo of the Purcellville Pharmacy on page 43. Based on the map on page 79, that places the location of the drug store at 107 W Main Street. There was a fire in 1914, and presumably the Pharmacy was one of the buildings that burned down. The pharmacy appeared to be made of wood in the 1908 photo, but a photo on page 83 shows the brick building in the same location.4
There is also a 1935 photo of the Purcellville pharmacy at 21st Street. So presumably it moved to that location sometime after the fire.4

Miller passed away in 19412.
William Waverly Friend (1868-1948)5 took over as the proprietor. Friend was previously the proprietor of the W.W. Friend drugstore in Manchester VA.6

I couldn't determine what year the Purcellville Pharmacy closed. I did find newspaper mentions referring to the "Edwards Purcellville Pharmacy" as late as 1970.1
I'm not sure but I think the store may have been owned by Thomas or William Edwards, who were affilliated with the Edwards Drugstore in nearby Leesburg VA.


Bottles:
purcellville_01 This is a clear, 3.5" machine-made unembossed bottle with a cork and a label:
label (printed): Purcellville Pharmacy / N. GUY MILLER, PROP. / PURCELLVILLE, VA.
label (hand-written): Date: 9-27-35 / Fifteen drops in a bottle water 3 times a day Dr. Hackey
purcellville_02 This is a clear, 3.3" machine-made unembossed bottle with a plastic screw-top and a label:
label: SWEET OIL / Purcellville Pharmacy / N. GUY MILLER, PROP. / PURCELLVILLE, VA.


1 Blade-Times (Brunswick MD), 12-Jun-1969 p.12 & 4-Jun-1970 p.13 (mentions of "Edwards Purcellville Pharmacy")
2 Find-a-grave entry for Nelson Guy Miller
3 The Roanoke Times, 18-Jun-1941, p.2 (Obituary for Nelson G. Miller)
4 Book: Images of America: Purcellville, by Meredith Thomsas
5 Find-a-grave entry for William Waverly Friend
6 Loudoun News, 18-Mar-1948, p.10 (obituary for W.W. Friend)


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This page last updated on September 6, 2025.