A long time ago in a public health era far away, there was a world where retail store pharmacy storefronts weren't on every corner and the tinctures and treatments people consumed when they were ill were a far cry from today's modern medicines. This was the time of apothecaries-those fascinating druggists who meticulously mixed herbs and minerals, adding a dash of animal fat here and a bit of earwax there, all with the intent of curing common ailments. Historically, the term "apothecary" referred to both the person who manufactured and dispensed medicines (lowercase "a" for our purposes), and the shop in which those medicines were created and dispensed (capitalized "A"). Though they remain staples of fantasy worlds, apothecaries were not mystical, magical beings or peddlers of expensive (and often useless) oils, but highly valued and esteemed medical professionals.
As the nation's first chartered hospital, founded in Philadelphia in 1751, Pennsylvania Hospital was also the first to have an associated Apothecary facility preparing medicines for patients, which curbed the need for apothecaries to act as both doctor and pharmacist, as was required in more rural areas of the colonies and later the new states. As the hospital expanded and the realm of American pharmacy evolved, so too did the role of the apothecary.
Still, it took some time before the hospital's apothecary had a dedicated, purpose-built space to work. Because the construction of the three sections of Pennsylvania Hospital's original Pine Building structure was almost entirely dependent on the contributions of wealthy philanthropists, nearly 50 years passed between the completion of the east wing and the other two sections. The center building was mostly completed in 1801 (the dome of the surgical amphitheatre upstairs was finished in 1804), and while its primary purpose was to join the east wing housing the physically ill and the west wing housing the mentally ill, the building also provided residential and administrative spaces for employees and servants. And on the first floor-the Great Court-there was at last a designated area for the Apothecary.
When Pennsylvania Hospital opens the Pine Building as a public museum in May 2026 in honor of the 275th anniversary of the hospital's founding, one of the highlighted exhibit rooms will be a restoration of this Apothecary space to emulate its original design.
