The Drugstore

Page 2

Lock Drug Store

Bastrop, Texas
1003 Main St.

Lock Drug Store
Bastrop, Texas
August 6, 2012

Threse days many of the old local and independent drugstores are succumbing to the big chains. Bought out by CVS, Lock Drug is but of many to have done so. In 2014, the Bastrop mainstay left its historic downtown location (1003 Main St) of 45 years in favor of a strip plaza, four years later it closed. Ironically, the same day, that owner John Mohrman turned 76. The images that appear here are of the old downtown store, taken in August of 2012.

Lock Drug Store
David Lock is behind Pharmacy Counter

Although David Lock founded Lock Drugs in 1970, the drugstore history of the building dates back to 1905 when W. J. Miley opened his store, complete with soda fountain & counter. The fountain didn’t make the transition to the plaza. Before then however, it was said to be the oldest drugstore soda fountain still operating. Before W. J. Miley Drug Store, the 1855 building served as the office of Dr. David Sayers, father of Texas Governor Joseph Sayers.

Lock Drugstore Interior/h5>

I loved the feel of the old store. When it closed, it seemed to me as if the heart of Bastrop disappeared. Many of Bastrop’s residents felt the same way. Lock served four years on City Council and fourteen years as mayor, all the while dispensing medicine from behind the pharmacy counter. According to one resident, He’d be dispensing his medicine and talking across the counter to all the citizens. Everyone would go down and have a soda and an ice cream cone, and they’d talk to him about city business and then order their prescriptions.”

Lock Drug Store Soda Fountain

Main Drug & Gifts

Nixon, Texas

Main Drug & Gift
Nixon, Texas
July 6, 2014

It was a hot July day when we drove into Nixon, it was lunch time and we were hungry. Maybe, we thought, we could get a bite to eat that Main Drug, after all it had a soda fountain. But no, the soda fountain counter had become a display area. And the drug store, although still dispensing medicines appears to be more of a gift shop than a drugstore. Looking at its current (Sept. 2023) Facebook page, it seems that there even more boutique items than ever.

Main Drug & Gift
Soda Fountain Counter

Main Drug & Gift
Nixon Mural on E. 2nd St. Side

Image: July 6, 2014. The exterior has remained pretty unchanged between 2014 and now, 2023

Previous Page
Back to Iconic Americana