Sunday, February 20, 2011

Star Drug Store, Galveston TX

One of the things we've been trying to do is visit Star Drugstore, "the oldest drug store in Texas" but we kept hitting it when it was closed...on Mondays, and it's closed after 3:00 p.m...we finally got to visit it one morning this week and it was very cool....we wanted to see it because there's a lot of history behind it and it has survived the hurricanes. We had a great breakfast there...here's some of the history behind the store...

In the "olden days", the druggist would keep cots on the mezzazine floor so that after people took their medicine right there in the store, he would keep an eye on them to watch for adverse reactions to the meds.

The Coke sign on top of the drugstore outside is the oldest porcelain neon Coke sign in existence....I love anything Coke..that's my drink of choice, I have one every single morning..it's my "coffee" to get me going for the day...I don't collect Coke memorabilia, but they sure had the selection here if I wanted to start! (Uh-oh! says Eldo) I do think I'd like to go back and get a Star drugstore mug with the Coke sign on it! (Are you sure that's all? says E.) Yep! says me.....

This drugstore was the first desegregated lunch counter in Galveston...others quickly followed suit....
There are cool wooden cabinets filled with antique reproductions and jewelry items for sale.

There is an old 1873 working cast iron safe in the store. Ironically, the combination to that very same safe was found scratched in the upstairs apartment bathroom floor! Here is a view from the mezzanine overlooking the main floor---
I believe this is the original horseshoe shaped soda fountain....
They sell Star drugstore tee shirts, mugs, glassware and a BUNCH of other stuff! We'll check it out one more time before we leave next week, I would guess....the breakfast burrito wraps are really great! So far we've had two meals here and both breakfast and lunch were excellent...speaking of lunch,  I'm getting hungry, time to go fix a snack!  Bye for now.....

5 comments:

  1. I really miss the old drug stores, and most of all I miss the old druggists. Now they don't keep an inventory - it's always "come back tomorrow". I didn't realize Star Drug Store was in Galveston, but thought they were somewhere else. Maybe I'm thinking of Wall's.

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  2. I think Wall Drugs originated in S. Dakota. We went by it but didn't have time to stop. It was HUGE and took up a city block, it seemed like!

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  3. Really cool that you got to have two meals at such a unique old drugstore. I think Wall's is more of a tourist trap than a real old fashioned drug store.

    Does Star make chocolate milk shakes or malts?? The latter is my favorite thing to have at a "soda fountain" like the one at Star's. Very cool, thanks.

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  4. can you believe this? we didn't have a shake or a malt! So I don't know if they have them but I'm guessing they do

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