Allen's Villa Heights Pharmacy


Company Names, addresses, dates: 1
  Stiff's Villa Heights Pharmacy, Melrose Ave cor Hanover Blvd NW (1926-1935)
  Stiff's Villa Heights Pharmacy, Melrose Ave cor Lafayette Blvd NW (1936-1943)
  Villa Heights Pharmacy, Melrose Ave cor Lafayette Blvd NW (1945-46)
  Allen's Villa Heights Pharmacy, Melrose Ave at 26th, Roanoke VA (1948)
  Allen's Villa Heights Pharmacy, 2535 Melrose Ave, Roanoke VA (1951-1953)
  Allen's Pharmacy, 2535 Melrose Ave, Roanoke VA (1956-1957)
  Allen's Pharmacy, 2523 Melrose Ave, Roanoke VA (1958-ca.1967) 1,2

Notes:
According to Wikipedia, "Villa Heights" is a neighborhood in Roanoke.
The earliest reference to a Roanoke pharmacy with that name was when it was called "Stiff's Villa Heights Pharmacy", in 1926. 1
Luther Graves Stiff (1879-1936)3 was the owner. Stiff passed away in 1936, and it appears his wife kept ownership of the store. By 1946, it was re-named "Allen's Villa Heights Pharmacy". 1

Walter M. Allen (ca.1908-1975)4 was the proprietor of Allen's Villa Heights Pharmacy1.
Walter received his BS in Pharmacy from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. From 1939-1943 he was a student and a drug clerk. Walter was a member of the Virginia Board of Pharmacy, and was the president of that organization in 1962.4

I don't know what year the drugstore closed. The last newspaper reference to the store I could find was in 1967.2


Bottles:
allen_01 This is an amber, 2.25" machine-made bottle with a label:
label: ... Dr. C.F. DAVIS / Allen's VILLA HEIGHTS PHARMACY / 2523 Melrose Avenue, N.W. / Phone 344-4041 ROANOKE VA


1 Roanoke City directories for the years: 1888-89,92,98,1902,04,06-18,20-24,26-39,41-43,45-46,48,51-53,56-58,60
2 Roanoke World-News, 1-May-1967, p.22 (last mention I found of Allen's Pharmacy)
3 Find-a-grave entry for Luther Graves Stiff
4 Richmond Times-Dispatch, 4-Aug-1975, p.14 (obituary for Walter M. Allen)


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This page last updated on September 23, 2026.