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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Then and Now: West End Drug

1968 - Wrecking crews have started pulling down the old building that housed the former West End Drug Store to expand the parking lot on West First. Until it closed in 1965 the corner space had been occupied by the West End Drug Store for 30 years and its owner, Fred Olson, had been known as the "mayor of West First." The upstairs had rooms for rent and the left side of the building was the Saddle Inn. Before that, there was the Briggs Cigar Store, Rose’ Tavern and Sam’s Restaurant (THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW PHOTO ARCHIVE)
1968 - Wrecking crews have started pulling down the old building that housed the former West End Drug Store to expand the parking lot on West First. Until it closed in 1965 the corner space had been occupied by the West End Drug Store for 30 years and its owner, Fred Olson, had been known as the "mayor of West First." The upstairs had rooms for rent and the left side of the building was the Saddle Inn. Before that, there was the Briggs Cigar Store, Rose’ Tavern and Sam’s Restaurant (THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW PHOTO ARCHIVE)Buy a print of this photo
By Jesse Tinsley jesset@spokesman.com(509) 459-5378

George H. Smith, a young pharmacist from Kansas, and his wife set out for California in 1899. They didn’t make it. One of George’s brothers suggested that they stop in Spokane on their way, and the Smiths loved the town. “Spokane seemed just about right to us,” he said years later.

Smith purchased an established drugstore in the Hogan Block and changed the named to the West End Pharmacy. “It was literally in the west end of Spokane at that time,” he said. Smith had received a pharmacy license through apprenticeship in Kansas.

Smith moved his shop to the corner of First Avenue and Monroe Street in 1927 as the old site was being torn down to build the new Fox Theater, which opened in 1931.

After almost 50 years as a pharmacist, Smith retired and sold the business to Fred Olson in 1930. In 1928, because of a shortage of pharmacists, Olson had been able to get his license based on years of experience as a drugstore clerk and by taking an exam.

Olson changed the name from “West End Pharmacy” to “West End Drug,” and over the next 35 years, Olson and his wife Irene ran the store and lunch counter. Fred was known as the “Mayor of West First.”

A 1960 Spokesman-Review columnist decried milkshakes made with machine-made soft ice cream. Olson let the newspaper know that he only served “proper” milkshakes, made with real ice cream.

Upstairs, rooms were rented as the Jewel Hotel, later as the Henry Apartments. The storefront next door held the Saddle Inn, Rose’s tavern, Briggs Cigar Store and Sam’s Restaurant.

In December 1960, the 70-year-old pharmacist confronted a man with a revolver in his hand and they exchanged 11 shots over the cash register. Police traced the would-be robber by his blood trail in the snow on the sidewalk. Both men were hit in the arm and the head, yet both survived.

Olson retired around 1965 and closed the store. He died in 1974. The buildings were torn down by 1968 to provide parking for Carr Sales, an electrical supply business next door.