Smith Drug Co.

In 1925, Calvin Coolidge was the U.S. President, F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, and, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, E. Hammond Smith opened a drugstore that would play a central role in the community’s—and the country’s—history.

Smith was certainly ahead of his time. Born in Alabama, his family moved to Hattiesburg when he was a young child. Despite the segregated and limited education system available to him, he not only attended college but earned his degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville in 1924. A year later, back in Hattiesburg, he opened Smith Drug Co. on Mobile Street, which would become an anchor of the African American commercial district for decades to come. 

The store provided the community with necessary medicine and other personal items, but also served as a community connector. In the 1950s and ’60s, a soda fountain made it a popular hangout for the local students to grab a cold drink or malt on their way home from school.

The store was also an important focal point for the local civil rights efforts. “It served as a meeting place for local leaders and was visited by many national Civil Rights activists,” said Louise Revere, a former employee at Smith Drug. One of those leaders was comedian and author Dick Gregory, who wrote about bigotry and racism in the U.S.

Smith himself also served as a civil rights pioneer, becoming one of the first Black men to register to vote in Hattiesburg. He retired in 1980 and left the store to his protégé and fellow pharmacist Dr. James Cohen.

In 2020, the Hattiesburg Commission renovated and restored the shop, which today is part of the town’s Sixth Street Museum District. Be sure to order a malt milkshake before you go.