Celebrating 125 years of being part of the heart of Clinton
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Members of the staff of Clinton Drug Store stand in front of wall murals of photos de- picting the history of the store, which has been in business since 1895. From left are: Amy Gill, pharmacist Darrin Hooks, pharmacist Tyler Dougherty, Gwen Lane, Kelly Wilson, Emilie Morgan and Joan Loving. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Jim and Pam McBride are the owners of the Clinton Drug Store and McBride’s Gift Market. - G. Chambers Williams III
Clinton Drug Store, a local institution since 1895, this Friday will celebrate its 125th anniversary with free food and special merchandise discounts.
Located at 1130 N. Charles Seivers Blvd. since 2003, the store has been owned by pharmacist Jim McBride since 1991, and is now in its third location.
Originally downtown on the corner of Market and Main streets, the store moved to its second location in the former St. Mary’s Hospital complex on what is now Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in 1988.
“I purchased the store in 1991 right after I graduated from the University of Tennessee Pharmacy School,” McBride said Monday. “For the first four years, I commuted daily from Morristown, but I moved to Clinton in 1995, and I’ve been here ever since.”
His wife, Pam McBride, runs the front of the store, which includes her McBride’s Gift Market. During this Friday’s event, the Gift Market will also hold its Christmas open house, during which all merchandise will be 20 percent off, Jim McBride said.
The store now has 15 employees, and there are some historical items inside, including the original safe from the late 1800s.
“It still works, but we don’t keep anything in it anymore,” McBride said.
There are murals over the pharmacy area in the back that include historic photos of Clinton Drug Store, and there is a collection of antique medicine bottles.
Clinton Drug Store was founded by a physician, Dr. W.W. Medaris, and there is still a drawer in the safe marked with his initials, McBride said.
The store’s original telephone number was a single digit – 4 – McBride said.
As for Friday’s event, “We’re serving lunch,” McBride said, beginning at noon. That includes barbecue sandwiches, chips, cake and bottled water, available “until we run out,” he said.
