Monroe Drug Company - Unionville, MO - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

County of building: Putnam County
Location of building: 1700 Main St., Unionville

Monroe Drug Company In 1870, E. N. Monroe, whose parents had settled near Putnam County's Martinstown, found employment in a Unionville drugstore. Six years later, he opened the Monroe Drug Company in a two-story brick building on the northwest corner of the square. An astute businessman, Monroe prospered, selling numerous items besides drugs, including wallpaper, paint, coal oil, and gasoline, plus his own Black Diamond Headache Cure.

Monroe hired J. Hugh Elson, a pharmacist interested in developing a synthetic dye that could be used on various fabrics, in the early 1890s. Combining different types of established dyes, Elson's product went on the market in 1893. The company stopped selling drugs and other goods in 1895 to concentrate solely upon marketing and selling Putnam Fadeless Dyes.

The company's success was directly attributable to its advertising, production, and distribution controls. Easily recognizable, its logo featured a painting of Revolutionary War General Isreal Putnam (for whom the county is named) fleeing the British.

To ensure continued company growth, in 1907 Monroe moved it from Unionville to Quincy, Illinois, where better transportation services were available. The Illinois community provided Monroe with economic incentives, including his request that repayment of moving expenses be available for his employees. Mindful of the importance of Unionville to his business success Monroe donated $15,000 for the construction of a hospital in the town.

The company's sales grew steadily, especially during World War I when German dyes were no longer available to Americans. During the early 1920s, its dyes began to be marketed and sold in Latin America. In 1923 a five-story production facility was built in Quincy,, and four years later the business was renamed the Monroe Chemical Company. Even during the depression years, Monroe's business enjoyed profitable times.

Even though he left Putnam County, Monroe enjoyed revisiting old friends there and their houses, places of business, or at the courthouse, where he caught up on the latest county news. He continued to return to Unionville after he retired in 1940 and turned over the business to his son-in-law.

In 1951 the Monroe Chemical Company was sold. Increased compitetion, especially from bigger companies, shrank its share of the dye business, and in 1976 bankruptcy proceedings took place. But for over forty years, under the guidance of E.N. Monroe, the company had been a successful example of American private enterprise that had originated in Putnam County

Year photo was taken: then: 1905; Now: 2010

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