Fordham Drug Store, located at 514 South Elm Street, opened in 1898. The history of Fordham is a roadmap to the way life used to be in the previous two centuries. Drug stores were social places where people stopped after school to enjoy one of the soda fountain concoctions, the kind that sometimes led to trademark beverages like Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper. Fordham was known for its lavender malted milkshakes. Drugstores were often a teenager's first job. Christopher Columbus Fordham III, who worked as a soda jerk, went on to serve as chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill.* Fordham had doctors who conveniently worked upstairs, so that a patient could be seen and receive medicine and a soothing soda, all in the same building.
Sadly, after 104 years, Fordham closed in 2002. The above photo was taken this past weekend. It seems the store is taking on a very different look. There is so much history in the building, it would be nice to see it restored. We'd love to get inside and see that Mexican marble counter and those wooden floors, and purchase just one more cold drink from that soda fountain. If you know about the painting and what will become of the building, please let us know.
* reference and more information from Our State magazine, here.
Very colourful. Hopefully whatever becomes of it, it'll be worthy of the locale.
Posted by: William Kendall | Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at 06:03 PM