Think you’re so smart? So then, where was the first pharmacy in the U.S. established?

By Steve Vodhanel

One might guess the major cities like New York or Chicago would be the home of the oldest pharmacy in the United States, however New Orleans has claim to this fame.

According to the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, up until 1804 there existed only informal territory licensing measures for someone wishing to formulate and dispense various chemical compounds and solutions in the United States. Prior to this date, a person could simply apprentice for six months and then begin the selling and distribution of any chemical concoction made, and made without any regulations or standards. Louisiana governor William C. Claiborne signed a law establishing a board of pharmacists and physicians to begin the licensing by examination of those individuals wishing to formulate and dispense the various chemical concoctions sold to the populace.

In the year 1816, Louis J. Dufilho, Jr., was the first to pass the licensing examination, thereby making the New Orleans pharmacy the first United States apothecary shop to be operated on the basis of proven adequacy.

School of Pharmacy Dean Billy Hughes and Assistant Professor Jim Pinder were thrilled to have visited the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum site during a CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) conference for the “Advancement and Support of Education for Deans” seminar held in New Orleans during the first week of January.