The Register of Kentucky Historical Society recently published an article by Michael Flanery titled "Smith Pharmacy of Burkesville, Kentucky: A Case Study of the Development of a Community Pharmacy." (Flannery is the director of the Loyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, and adjunct professor of American History at Northern Kentucky University."

    It all began in 1814, when three brothers, John M., Philip, and Ruben Alexander opened a store called the "J.P.R." (for John, Philip and Reuben.) Through the years the business had various partners, but a continuous line of ownership remained with the Alexander family throughout the 19th Century. In particular, Fayette Wood Alexander, nephew to the oringinal "J.P.R." brothers, became active in the business in 1837 and remained so until his death in 1864, when his son, William Fayette Alexander, succeeded him. The business was operated by W.F. Alexander until its sale in 1906 to Samuel Smith and his son John Peyton Smith, Randolph Smith's father.

    Throughout much of its early history, this store followed a pattern typical of similar operations of its kind in the United States. Rather than existing as a separate and distinct pharmacy or apothecary, it really functioned as a general store that devoted a portion of its inventory to medicinals. Despite exceptional competition, it was William Fayette Alexander's business insight that outstripped his rivals. During the 1870's, W.F. Alexander absorbed the competition and enlarged his operations, but even at this late date continued to function essentially as a general store that sold druggist's items. By 1881, medicines comprised such a significant portion of his business that he changed the name to W.F. Alexander Drug Store.

    His ledger accounts give a fairly detailed picture of the nature and character of a retail establishment that still bore many of the familiar traits of the general store. For example, Almarine Sproule's account in 1894 included a variety of purchases for quinine, playing cards, wooden planks, an axe and hoe and soap. Mike Winfrey bought some medicinal powders, cuff buttons, fifty pounds of lead, eight gallons of paint, glass and putty. Sometimes medicine purchases were for both man and beast as when Wiley Bouldin bought some cherry pectoral for himself as well as some unidentified "Hog Medicine." As it expanded, the drugstore became the most convenient ally in the struggle against the ravages of disease.

    Another factor strengthening the drugstore in the community was that the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw an explosion in mass-manufactured consumer goods that offered an unprecedented array of cosmetics, personal healthcare products, tobacco goods, and relatively inexpensive accessories such as watches and rings.

    But the drugstore centralized itself within the community in another important way… the Soda Fountain. The soda fountain became immensely popular in America during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and reached a peak during the prohibition years from 1919 through 1933. A good businessman and keen observer, W.F. Alexander brought the soda fountain to Cumberland County in 1877.

    On December 22, 1906, 58 year old W.F. Alexander sold the controlling interest in his store to Samuel Smith and his son John Peyton Smith, the coporation being divided into 160 shares with all but three held by the Smiths. The establishment was now the Alexander-Smith Drug Company. The general sundries store that once sold medicines as a sideline had evolved into a drugstore that sold sundries as a sideline.
    After attending one year of pharmacy school, John Peyton passed his state boards in 1908 and became the store's first registered pharmacist. Alexander could now leave his store proud of the fact that he had brought it to full maturity as a pharmacy.

    One of the first new enterprises of the Smith Drug Store was an activity that in some ways fitted in well with their soda fountain - the bottling of Coca-Cola. On December 7, 1908, Joe Willock of Louisville transferred his interest in the Burkesville bottling works for the next 14 years.

    Always looking to diversify his business activities, John Peyton Smith engaged in undertaking and embalming. In addition, he became involved in the timber and oil business. But it was the pharmacy that held the family's sustained interest. Upon graduation from the Louisville College of Pharmacy, Randolph N. Smith followed in his father's footsteps as a registered pharmacist. He became actively involved in Smith Drugstore operations in July 1939.

    Today, Randolph Smith has turned pharmacy operations over to his daughter and son-in-law, Laura Lee and Doug Butler, also a registered pharmacist. From the J.P.R. store to Smith Pharmacy, Kentucky's oldest operating drugstore has seen it all.

    The next time someone asks you where Burkesville is, tell them it's home to the oldest pharmacy in the state of Kentucky, Smith Pharmacy.