Then and Now photos: Murgittroyd’s

Murgittroyd’s, at right in the top photo, was the prototype of the modern drugstore. According to “The Pioneer Drug Store” by David Bethman, William Hiram Murgittroyd was born in 1867 and worked in a Detroit drugstore as a teen. At 24, he moved to Montana, opening his own drugstore in Marysville in 1895. Five years later, he moved to Spokane and took over the Krum and Braley store, which became Murgittroyd’s in 1905. In the early 1900s, business grew rapidly, with the store offering medicines prepared on site, cold storage for prescription ingredients, free delivery, six-hour same-day photo processing and free amenities like coat and parcel check. Customers could find gifts, housewares, fishing tackle and watches. Murgittroyd owned other businesses and volunteered with the Boy Scouts, War Bond drives and various clubs and lodges. Murgittroyd sold the store in 1925, and it closed in 1933. He died in 1946. –Jesse Tinsley