This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Pharmacies
Brennecke and Bergmann
Gehrke
Mallach
315 E
Main
Busse’s
204 E
Main
1955
Watertown Daily Times, 01 06 1955
The Gehrke
Pharmacy at 315 Main Street, one of the oldest drug stores in Watertown, has
changed ownership, following completion of the sale. The new owner is Jonas J. Mallach, 218 North Maple Street, who has been associated as
a pharmacist in the store for many years. William Gehrke
has operated the business since 1914 and will continue to work at the store,
assisting the new owner, for the present at least.
1958
William Gehrke,
73, retired pharmacist who for many years operated the Gehrke
Drug Store, died October 21, 1958. He
was born in Watertown in 1884, attended Watertown Public Schools and graduated
from the Northwestern Pharmaceutical School in Chicago. He was a life-long resident of the city. Burial was in Oak
Hill Cemetery.
Gehrke purchased the Brennecke
Drug Store in 1914 and operated it under his name until his retirement in 1953,
when he sold the business to Jonas Mallach.
1986
Watertown Daily Times, 07 31 1986
Mallach's Pharmacy consolidated with Busse’s
Mallach's Pharmacy,
Both Mallach
drug stores will be closed and prescription records will be available at Busse's,
With the sale, one of Watertown's
oldest businesses will disappear from the location it has occupied for the past
115 years. The downtown pharmacy, believed to be one
of the oldest in the state, has been continuously operated under various owners
for over a century.
Mallach's owner Michael Chandler said he
decided to sell the stores because of health reasons. He will continue to own
and operate Juneau Pharmacy in Juneau and will also continue to do nursing home
consulting.
A native of Independence, Iowa,
Chandler graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy in
1968.
He and his wife, Kathie, moved to
Watertown in 1973 from Waukesha where he was a vice president for
Stein-Walgreen drug stores. They entered into partnership with Gerald Mallach for the Mallach
pharmacies in 1974 and became sole owner in 1977. Mrs. Chandler also worked at
the drug stores, serving as bookkeeper among other duties.
Mallach's downtown store was operated for
many years by Jonas Mallach and then his son, Gerald Mallach. Previous owners also included R. H. Brenneeke and William Gehrke.
The building where the drug store is
located will continue to be owned by Gerald Mallach.
There are no new plans for the store at this time.
On
They will continue to reside in the
town of Watertown at
Busse's is owned by Al Shumaker and William
Devine. The pharmacy is part of Pharmacy Consultants, the largest independent
pharmaceutical buying group in the state. Busse
Pharmacy merged with Union Prescription Center and became Busse-Good
Value Pharmacy on
He is a 1967 graduate of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. He and his wife, Mary,
reside at
1987
Watertown Daily Times, 11 14 1987
Watertown is prominently featured in
the 1988 calendar published by The State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Called the "Wisconsin Historical Calendar," it represents photographs
from the society's archives. They represent photos from the 1860s to the 1940s.
Among the 57 photos published are
several by Henry F. Bergmann of Watertown who was a
pharmacist but had a sideline of postcard photography.
Other pictures by Bergmann show a boy starting a windmill pump in the
Watertown area in about 1915, a wedding table in Watertown in about 1905, the
back room of his pharmacy, a picture of his tour up the Hudson River in New
York in 1901 and a retail display of Christmas ornaments in Watertown in about
1905.
The calendar includes some brief
information on Bergmann who is featured on several
pages. It says he was born in Watertown in 1876. He began clerking in a
Watertown drugstore in about 1895 and for most of his life operated pharmacies
either in Watertown or South Milwaukee. He began taking photographs in
the early 1890s, soon transforming his hobby into a sideline as a postcard
photographer and taking pictures of parties, businesses, expositions and
distant cities and points of interest. There are 600 of his plates in the state
society archives and the South Milwaukee Historical Society also holds a
substantial number of them.
His pharmacy, the Brennecke and Bergrnam Pharmacy,
Fourth and Main streets, is now the location of Watertown Mutual Insurance. The
pharmacy was operated by Jerry and Jeannine Mallach
for many years and later by Mike and Katherine Chandler.
Today, Mrs. Mallach
owns Mallach's Book Store on North Third Street, one
of several locations from which the 1988 calendar can be purchased.
