Pills and Potions at the Niagara Apothecary, Canada

Author(s): Dena Doroszenko

Year: 2018

Summary

In 1964, pharmacist E. W. Field, closed his practice in Niagara-on-the-Lake due to ill health. This pharmacy had been in operation for a total of 156 years by 6 pharmacists, 5 of whom had been apprenticed to their predecessors. Re-opened in 1971 as an authentic restoration of an 1866 pharmacy, the building is owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust. The excavation of a pit feature recovered pharmaceutical bottles dating from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. This assemblage allows for discussion on the role of the pharmacist in a small community as well as observations to be made regarding the community’s behavior and social needs with this service over time particularly in response to disease. The local apothecary was part of an old tradition, that of being a medical advisor and this site has a wealth of historical records and archaeological data to review developments in local health  in small town Ontario.

Cite this Record

Pills and Potions at the Niagara Apothecary, Canada. Dena Doroszenko. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441198)

Keywords

General
apothecary Commercial Material Culture

Geographic Keywords
Canada North America

Temporal Keywords
19th Century

Spatial Coverage

min long: -141.003; min lat: 41.684 ; max long: -52.617; max lat: 83.113 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 215