Schoharie in Schoharie County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Throop Drug Store
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, September 7, 2013
1. Throop Drug Store Marker
Oldest Store In County
Erected 1932 by New York State Department of Education.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1800.
Location. 42° 39.87′ N, 74° 18.688′ W. Marker is in Schoharie, New York, in Schoharie County. Marker is on Main Street (New York State Route 30), on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 303 Main Street, Schoharie NY 12157, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Oldest Building (a few steps from this marker); Site of First School (within shouting distance of this marker); Schoharie Free Movies (within shouting distance of this marker); Schoharie Veterans Memorial (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Schoharie (about 700 feet away); Lasell Hall (about 700 feet away); Schoharie Valley Railroad Complex (approx. 0.4 miles away); Swarts Tavern (approx. ¾ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Schoharie.
Regarding Throop Drug Store.
Throop Drug Store in Village of Schoharie
[Photo Caption:] For many years
this page online
Jabez Throop Established Schoharie's First Drug Store on Main Street in Year of 1800
Store Has Passed Down Through The Generations to Charles W. Grant, Who Handles Hardware and Drugs, As Did His Forefathers For More Than a Century
By Hal von Linden
Clad in the blue denim of the day laborer, he asked lor a 3-16 by 7 inch bolt at the same counter where, nearly a century and a half ago, his ancestors perhaps ordered a pound of old square cut nails, a packet of tea or a new flint for a fowling piece, used then only for hunting, since the century just turned had seen the last of the Indian raids.
Jabez Throop Settles in Schoharie
For it was in 1789 that one Jabez Throop, the grandfather of the fourth generation past, came from a Connecticut town to settle in the little dorf of Schoharie as one of its first merchants. He had erected for his use a two-story brick building which was completed on its Main street site in 1800 and which thereafter became widely known throughout a vast surrounding area as a general store which also handled drugs, the first drug store ever to be established in Schoharie county.
And for many years thereafter it was the only drug store between Binghampton, (sic)
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, September 7, 2013
2. Throop Drug Store Marker
On the sidewalk at 303 Main Street in Schoharie.
History Looks Backward
Were history to pause briefly and shuffle backward through its yellowed memoirs, we might see again the half frozen, snow covered form of a settler from 40 miles up the valley come riding through a swirling blizzard to "Throop's" where might be obtained some potent drug to allay the fever and pain of his child or wife lying at the point of death in a hill-locked cabin beyond the reach of neighbors, medical aid or any but the crudest home remedies of a century ago. With the precious powders, weighed with meticulous care upon the brass balance of Druggist Throop, safely pouched within his homespun cloak, the settler took off on the long home journey, unable to warm his own spirits with a flagon of rum at the village tavern, for minutes, even, were precious and a life at home hung on the turn of an hour.
Unto The Fourth Generation
History records that for long the few doctors of the pioneer days rode in from the outlying districts to carefully pack within
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, September 4, 2013
3. Throop Drug Store Marker
The marker is, roughly, across the street from the Parrot House.
A few years more and the business passed into the trained and trusted hands of his son, to be carried on by 0. B. Throop, whose life size painting in oil still hangs on the rear wall of the store. Years passed and the sign over the entrance became "O. B. Throop and Son," by whom in 1871 the building was altered slightly and a third story added.
It was along about this time, the exact date is a little dimmed, that fire swept the west side of Main street from the old Schoharie house, and was brought under control only when it was turned by the solid brick walls of the Throop store.
Death's curtain flashed and again a generation arose to come into its own Charles M. Throop, druggist, past president of the Schoharie County Bank, head of the consistory of the First Dutch Reformed Church of the village and numerous other civil organizations, and whose memory will ever be revered by Schoharians, became the next owner. Death came for him in April, 1930.
The store is now in the hands of his grandson, Chares W. Grant, who pushes across its century dimmed counters the parcels of hardware and drugs, just as did his fathers for four generations, for the store has never been out of the Throop family.
And
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, October 12, 2013
4. Throop Drug Store Marker
The Throop Drug Store was in the three-story brick building with the awning, behind the marker, and with the Open sign in the window.
- Published in 'The Enterprise', Altamont, N.Y., Friday October 19, 1934, on Page Six
Also see . . . The Throop Pharmacy Museum. Albany College of Pharmacy and health Sciences website entry (Submitted on October 14, 2013, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.)
Additional keywords. Hurricane Irene Flooding Schoharie Creek
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, June 10, 2022
5. Throop Drug Store Marker Missing
The Throop marker is missing from its place at the sidewalk. The hole in the ground brickwork-paving is where it had been.
Photographed By Howard C. Ohlhous, September 14, 2023
6. Throop Drug Store Marker Restored
Credits. This page was last revised on September 27, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 13, 2013, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. This page has been viewed 624 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 13, 2013, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. 5. submitted on June 30, 2022, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. 6. submitted on September 14, 2023, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
