2026-05-01T22:33:06-04:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://shenandoahstories.org/ Shenandoah Stories https://shenandoahstories.org 2017-10-05T14:35:33-04:00 2023-09-08T11:29:17-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/253 The Shenandoah Stories Team Sometime in the 1880s Lin Irwin's Drug Store opened on the first floor of the Irwin Opera House located at the corner of Main and Court Street in Woodstock. In 1906 Clyde E. Walton and Dr. James H. Smoot purchased the drug store and changed the name to Walton and Smoot. It became one of the town's two major drug stores, the other being Schmitts two buildings down. Besides creating and providing medicine, Walton and Smoot was, and still is, a multipurpose store. It served food, sold a wide array of goods, and for a long period operated a bar and sold beer. An early postcard showing the interior had the hand written notation "Beefstew-Bar-Cold Beer added before it was sent. Soon after purchasing the business, Walton and Smoot moved the drug store to the Magruder Building which was located on North Main Street at the corner of Court Square. In 1935 H.A. Moore and George Clower purchased the business from Dr. Smoot who had previously become the sole owner of the drug store. They continued to operate it under the Walton and Smoot name. Milson S. French purchased George Clower’s share of the business in July of 1952. French, a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia, later became sole owner of the store. He moved the drug store moved to its current home, the former site of the Geary and Woodstock Hotels, in 1968 when the Magruder Building was demolished to make way for a new brick office building. A fire heavily damaged the building in 1975 but the store reopened. It operated until 2019. The building stands vacant as of 2023. For more (including 6 images), view the original article. 2016-05-12T11:58:11-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:21-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/42 Shenandoah County Library In 1834 Dr. John G. Schmitt, a Swiss immigrant, arrived in Woodstock Virginia. Schmitt, who was physician, soon opened a drug store on Main Street. In those days, before modern medical practices, a doctor often served as both your doctor and druggist. You would be diagnosed and then given a series of drugs, which were mixed in the store, to cure your ailments. Over time the store expanded its retail operations. The store would eventually sell a variety of general merchandise, operate a lunch counter, and serve as a soda shop. This site was one of the most popular in Woodstock, their eatery became a social attraction, and the Schmitts became community leaders. The store was also a popular bicycle dealer. Starting in the 1880s when a bicycle craze swept across the country, and continuing into the 20th century, Schmitt’s was the place to buy your bicycle in Woodstock. In 1885 a new drug store building was built on the same Main Street site by John’s descendent Bernadotte Schmitt. This structure original combined the drug store and the family’s residence. Its high gabled roof, a defining feature of the Italianate architectural style that the building was designed in, is a unique feature in downtown Woodstock. Schmitt’s drug store would continue to operate through the mid part of the 20th century. In 1944 it was purchased by long time employee Joseph B. Clower who managed operations until 1956 when the business was sold to its local competitor Walton and Smoot who closed the drug store. The building would be sold again in the 1980s and in the early 2000s. It has been recently remodeled and now houses a branch of the First Bank and Trust Company and the All things Virginia store at the Farmhouse. For more (including 2 images), view the original article.