Drug Store of Indeterminate Age

Located at 7935 NE Glisan Street is the unused half of the Hanoi Kitchen building. The city of Portland documents indicates the whole structure dates to a 1955 development. However, that date only represents the western single-story half of the building. The two-story eastern portion of the building dates back much further.

Originally the building at the corner of NE 80th Ave and Glisan Street had an address of 2003 East Glisan. It was home to W. E. Fowler’s Drug Store. Some documents noted the business as Fowler Drug Co. The date of construction is unknown, nor is the date Fowler moved his business to this address.

*2003 E Glisan – Portland Digital Sanborn 1924*

By 1917, mentions of W. E. Fowler’s corner shop appears in both The Sunday Oregonian and The Oregon daily journal. The publications included the store name and address as part of product advertising. The Oregon daily journal for September 24th, 1920, identified W. E. Fowler’s Drug Store as the special voter registration location for the Montavilla district.

*7935 Glisan – Portland Digital Sanborn 1950*

Just two days later, on September 26nd, The Oregon daily journal reported that Mrs. Ivy McBride took poison obtained at Fowlers Drug Store to kill herself. Fowler rushed to the site to provide an antidote; however, Ivy McBride fought his efforts and ultimately died due to ingesting the poison.

Undeterred by the tragedy, Fowler appears as a Druggist selling Yeast Foam Tablets in The Sunday Oregonian‘s 1922 advertisement for the product. Many years later, a 1977 plumbing permit is the last listing of Fowler Drug Store. These records document more than sixty years that Fowler supplied the community with drug store services.

*The Montavilla Times October 23rd, 1931*

By 1931, the name had changed to The Drug Shop. The name change was noted in an advertisement in The Montavilla Times of October 23rd. The name remained in use until at least 1981. Last being seen in a PGE advertisement appearing on page two of the April 2nd Dayton Tribune.

For decades the shopfront has remained empty, with all business activity occurring in the 1955 built portion of the structure. Perhaps as retail operations grow along Glisan, refurbishing this storefront will become a priority.