History & Heritage

Dr. Henry Everett Emerson Drug Store

Property Details

2 1/2-story Italianate vernacular commercial building of wood frame construction, artificially sided. Storefront on first story with original storefront cornice intact; above storefront on second story is a bay window. Windows flat-topped without distinctive architectural ornament. Hipped roof with dormer. Early uses include that of local physician H. E. Emerson’s Drug Store. Born in 1866, Emerson graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and from the University of New York Medical College in 1892. In the 1890s, Emerson served as the secretary to the Milford Borough Council, receiving $5.00 per month, including room rent and stationary. A 19th-century county history described him as “enjoying a large and lucrative practice and [he] has also conducted for some years the leading drug store in that little thriving city [Milford].” In 1889, the building was described in the local newspaper as being ‘new and handsome.” It was moved to this site ca. 1902 from its original location adjacent to the Hotel Fauchère. (1889)