Red X Pharmacy - Emporia, Ks.
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iconions
N 38° 24.356 W 096° 10.800
14S E 746240 N 4254621
This two-story Art Deco stone building is located at 624 N Commercial in Emporia, Ks.
Waymark Code: WMM9K0
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 08/17/2014
Views: 1
From the National Register application:
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"Red X Pharmacy Status: Contributing
Address: 624 N COMMERCIAL ST
Date of Construction: 1880 (Estimated); 1925 (Estimated)
Parcel ID: 192-10-0-40-36-003.00-0
Historic Function: Commerce/Trade - Specialty Store
Current Function: Commerce/Trade - Specialty Store
Architectural Classification: Art Deco
Description:
This brick two-part commercial block is three bays wide. Upper-story fenestration, comprised of three single window openings containing non-historic fixed sash windows, defines the bays. Ashlar stone clads the façade wall, featuring carved stone medallions over each upper-story window opening. The storefront has a recessed double-leaf entrance in the center bay and a canvas awning covering the transom. Solid, tile curved walls flank the entrance and feature embedded rectangular display cases.
History:
The façade of this building, which is Art Deco, dates to the 1920s. There was a two-story building on this parcel by 1884, by which time it already housed a drug store. The building was home to the B. Wheldon Drug Company by 1900. In 1910, J. J. Kowlaski, who began working for the D. W. Morris and Son drug store in 1900. In 1910, Kowlaski and and Guy S. Goodwin purchased the Wheldon Drug Company and renamed the business Red Cross Pharmacy. Kowlaski changed the name to Red X in 1919. The Red X drug store installed air conditioning in 1938. Carl Berg and Clifford Frost, who had worked for Red X for 31 years, left the pharmacy to start their own firm, Berg and Frost, in 1945. Kowlaski sold Red X Pharmacy to Lawrence pharamacists George Lawrence and Mel Fisher in 1952. The store was managed by Curtis Rorabaugh. Red X continued at this location until the 1980s. Joe Kowlaski (sometimes spelled Kowalski) died in 1954. (Emporia Gazette, 22 May 1947; 4 February 1913; 4 February 1922; 30 January 1935; 31 January 1939; 20 May 1939; 30 January 1940; 1 July 1952; 24 September 1964)
Integrity:
This building is classified as a contributor because, although the upper-story windows have been replaced with single-pane tinted windows, the building retains its overall appearance from its ca. 1925 overall design change and historic use as a drug store."