Nomination Form
Edward Stabler, a Quaker pharmacist, started a family apothecary business in 1792, one which operated continuously until it closed in 1933. In 1796 the business moved permanently to 107 South Fairfax Street, a building erected between 1774 and 1785. Among its customers were Martha Washington, Drs. James Craik and Elisha Cullen Dick, James Monroe, and Robert E. Lee. The brick building’s three-bay, three-story exterior is typical of the Alexandria’s Federal architecture. Its curved-window shopfront is a conjectural reconstruction by noted architect Thomas T. Waterman. The fanciful Gothic Revival shelves inside are a mid-19th-century alteration and are a stunning and rare example of the style’s use for a shop interior. Now a museum in the Alexandria Historic District, the apothecary’s collections include, in addition to furnishings and fixtures, archival material, pharmaceutical equipment, and herbs, all kept intact by the Stabler-Leadbeater firm.
In 2021 the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia
