page_title: Niagara Apothecary
section_title: Ownership
hierarchical_section_title: Niagara Apothecary / Ownership
caption_attribution_description: English: Bottles excavated at the Niagara Apothecary, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.
context_page_description: The Niagara Apothecary was an apothecary in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, established no later than 1820, and is now a National Historic Site of Canada. It was operated by a series of successive owners, most of whom had apprenticed under the preceding owner. In the 1960s, it was purchased by the Niagara Foundation, which targeted the building and its contents for preservation. It was purchased by the provincially-owned Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1969, which undertook a preservation effort culminating in May 1971, when the property was re-opened as a museum.
  The museum is rendered as a typical Confederation-era apothecary. It is operated by the Ontario College of Pharmacy, and receives about 100,000 visitors annually.
context_section_description: The building is located on Lot 64m, a property deeded to William Dickson in 1796 by The Crown. The original pharmacy had been located on Prideaux Street, which was moved to another lot on Queen Street by its owner Rodman Starkwather. In 1833, Starkwather sold his business to James Harvey, who operated it until his death from pulmonary tuberculosis in October 1851. It is thought that during his proprietorship, many of the artefacts currently on display at the museum were imported from England, including the glass bottles. In early 1852, Harvey's heirs sold the business to Henry Paffard, who had been an apprentice to Harvey. In 1866, when also the mayor of the town, arson damaged both his house and the pharmacy. He bought the current building from Edward Campbell in 1869, making significant renovations to it, among them lowering the floor, raising the ceiling, and installing black walnut counters and an ornate dispensary.
  After operating the business for 46 years, Paffard sold it in 1898 to his apprentice John DeWolfe Randall. DeWolfe died, likely of a stroke, on 13 March 1914, and the business was purchased by Arthur J. Coyne, who operated it until 1922. He also operated a pharmacy in St. Catharines, and in 1922 decided to focus his efforts there, selling the Niagara-on-the-Lake drugstore to Erland Field. However, Coyne kept about 200 glass bottles and other containers that had been purchased by Harvey. Field would operate the business until 1964, when his ailing health forced him to retire, and he granted the Niagara Foundation and Ontario College of Pharmacy the right of first refusal.
  The Niagara Foundation bought the property, and in 1969 sold it to the Ontario Heritage Foundation. In 1970, the Niagara Foundation and Ontario College of Pharmacy signed a contract with the Ontario Heritage Foundation, by which the latter would restore and maintain the building, and the Ontario College of Pharmacy would restore the apothecary and operate it.
caption: Bottles excavated at the site in June 2016
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