Historical Markers

Key Sites in the History of Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals Across North America

The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy (AIHP) curates this collection of Virtual Historical Markers of Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals Across North America. These historic event/site combinations represent significant milestones in scientific advances that improve everyday life. They encompass the history of discovery, medication use, pharmacy practice, pharmacy education, pharmacy associations, and related events and activities.

To use the map projected in the frame below:

• Zoom in or out. Use the plus or minus signs or a mouse wheel to show more or less area. Zoom to city level to see if several map markers are close to each other (e.g., Philadelphia).
• Explore & Click. See what’s listed for your city. Or filter for categories that interest you. Click on map points and read the details in the pop-up box. Embedded links in the box lead to external information.
• Filter. By default, all points are visible at first. Click the filter icon, to reveal various categories of map points. Move the radio buttons to select which category(ies) to project.
• Search. Click the query icon to search the dataset for specific records. You may search the title, description, or collection fields. Collections return multiple markers that match “family” criteria such as FDA, military, student, tragedy, USP, USPHS, various conglomerate names, or the like. The results box offers export and other functions.

American Institute of the History of Pharmacy © All rights reserved.                  
Updated Sep 17, 2025.

Suggested citation: American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. Historical Markers of Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals Across North America. Madison, Wisconsin: AIHP, 2025. aihp.org/historicalmarkers. Accessed Mmm/dd/20yy.

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AIHP’s Virtual Historical Markers Steering Committee

Contact Us (errors, editing, suggestions)

To report an error or make a suggestion, please email: research@aihp.org

Precision: In some cases, especially on large campuses, we estimated where to place map pins. In some cases, we added separation so that pins would not overlap. To suggest more precise placement (e.g., where a relevant office or laboratory was located), please email: research@aihp.org.
More Map Pins: Something missing? To nominate an event/site combination for inclusion, please complete the Nomination Form. Nominations may be submitted via Google Form or by emailing the Word document to research@aihp.org.
Patience: We are a small operation with a big heart. Our friendly staff will address your message as soon as we can. Please forgive any delay in responding.
HMDB: If you know of a relevant physical historical marker (e.g., marker on pole, marker on wall, roadside marker) we missed, tell us about it and also check to see if it needs to be added to the Historical Marker Database (HMDB.org). Submit your physical marker for inclusion by HMDB for even broader recognition, here.

About Us

The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy (AIHP) advances knowledge and understanding of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals.
Join AIHP to share in the analysis and preservation of pharmacy’s rich heritage.
For more information about AIHP visit our About page.

The Community Leadership & Innovation in Practice (CLIP) Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy pursues mapmaking to visualize data and advance pharmacy policy and practice transformation. This effort is lead by Lucas A. Berenbrok, PharmD, Associate Professor of Pharmacy & Therapeutics and Director of the CLIP Center. His team evaluates how pharmacies act as essential entry points and accessible locations for health care.

What We Include

AIHP’s Virtual Historical Markers of Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals Across North America

Throughout:

• Sites of pivotal events in science or clinical practice.
• Includes relevant entries from the Historical Marker Database (HMDB.org), based on search terms such as pharmacy, pharmacist, drugstore, and the like, if they have national or societal scope.
• Excludes those related to pharmacy, pharmacist, or the National Register of Historic Places without other qualifying distinction.
• Includes major contributors to the profession of pharmacy recognized in the Dennis. B. Worthen series of “Pharmacy Heroes,” published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.
• Extended descriptions provide summary information. Details and contemporary information (e.g., recent mergers and acquisitions) may be omitted. See other sources.

Academia:

• Includes active pharmacy academic programs: Deans are invited to submit information about the founding of their pharmacy programs.
• Includes closed pharmacy academic programs known to us.
• Pin markers favor location of first pharmacy classes.

Discovery-Research:

• Includes pharmaceutical discoveries and discoverers recognized iwth Nobel Prizes, Lasker Awards, National Historic Landmark or National Historic Chemical Landmark status, and other significant innovations or advances in treatment or prevention of disease.
• Includes first synthesis of first-in-class pharmaceuticals.
• Includes current and historic centers of pharmaceutical research and manufacture.

Federal Pharmacy:

• Includes major contributions of pharmacists in federal govenment agencies and uniformed services.

Museum:

• Emphasizes pertinent museums and libraries identified in AIHP’s directory of museums and exhibits, plus others.

National Rx Associations:

• Includes national-level pharmacy associations and similar professional societies. For the USA, describes member organizations of the Joint Commission of Pharmacist Practitioners (JCPP).
• Includes national student groups, including fraternities and honor societies.
• Pin markers favor location of first meetings.

Pharmacy Practice:

• Includes notable pharmacies and pharmacists with national or societal scope.
• Includes major trade associations.
• Includes larger pharmacy chains and independent networks (current and historic), especially those with more than 100 pharmacies.

Pop Culture:

• Includes events related to pharmacy and pharmaceuticals that make you smile.

Rx Licensing:

• Includes boards and Canadian colleges regulating pharmacists and pharmacy practice: State boards of pharmacy and Canadian provincial colleges of pharmacy executives are invited to submit information about the founding of their institutions.
• Pin markers favor location of first meetings.

Society:

• Includes notable events and people that address humanity.

State/Province Rx Associations:

• Includes state and provincial pharmacy associations and similar regional professional societies. State and provincial association executives are invited to submit information about the founding of their associations.
• Pin markers favor location of first meetings.

What Did We Overlook?:

• To nominate an event/site combination for inclusion, please complete the Nomination Form.
• A corresponding Google Form is located here.
• Nominatins may be submitted via Google Form or by emailing the Word document to research@aihp.org.

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List of Keywords for Marker Collections

Key Word	Description of Marker Collection (“family”)
Abbott	Involves Abbott or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Rowell)
Amgen	Involves Amgen or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations
APhA	Involves American Pharmacists Association
Bayer	Involves Bayer or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., I. G. Farben, Miles)
BMS	Involves Bristol-Myers Squibb or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations
Cardinal	Involves Cardinal Health or its affiliated organizations (e.g., Leader Drug Stores, Medicine Shoppe)
Cencora	Involves Cencora or its affiliated organizations (e.g., Family Pharmacy, Good Neighbor Pharmacy)
CSL	Involves CSL Limited or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Behring, Seqirus, ZLB)
CVS	Involves CVS Health or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Arbor, Bartell, Hook, Katz, Longs, Navarro, Osco, Peoples, Revco, Sav-On, Sentry, Standard)
Daiichi Sankyo	Involves Daiichi Sankyo or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations
FDA	Involves US Food & Drug Administration or its predecessor organizations
Genentech	Involves Genentech or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations
GSK	Involves GSK or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Beecham, Beckman, Block, Burroughs, French, Glaxo, RIT, SmithKline, Stearns, Sterling, Wellcome, Winthrop)
JNJ	Involves Johnson & Johnson or its predecessors or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Centocor, Janssen, McNeil, Pitman-Moore)
Lilly	Involves Eli Lilly & Co. or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Pitman-Moore)
McKesson	Involves McKesson Corporation or its affiliated organizations (e.g., Health Mart, Valu-Rite)
Merck	Involves Merck or MSD or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Dohme, Mulford, Pitman-Moore, Plough, Schering, Sharp, Powers, Rosengarten, Weightman)
Military	Involves Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, or Coast Guard
P&G	Involves Proctor & Gamble or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Eaton, Norwich, Richardson, Vicks)
Pfizer	Involves Pfizer or predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Lambert, Lederle, Parke-Davis, Upjohn, Warner, Wyeth)
Rite-Aid	Involves Rite-Aid or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Brooks, Eckerd, Fay’s, Genovese, G.O. Guy, Gray, K&B, Lane, LaVerdiere’s, Pay’n Save, PayLess, Perry, Read’s, Thrift, Thrifty, Treasury, Wellby)
Roche	Involves Hoffman-LaRoche or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations
Sanofi	Involves Sanofi or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Aventis, Connaught, Marion, Mérieux, Merrell, Pasteur, Pitman-Moore, Poulenc, Rorer)
Smallpox	Involves smallpox, including variola or vaccinia
Student	Involves student-focused organizations (e.g., ASP, SNPhA, fraternities, honor societies)
Syntex	Involves Syntex or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations
Tragedy	Involves substantial loss of life (e.g., industrial accidents, outbreaks)
USP	Involves US Pharmacopeial Convention or the National Formulary
USPHS	Involves US Public Health Service or its predecessor organizations
Walgreens	Involves Walgreens or its predecessor or subsidiary organizations (e.g., Cunningham, Drug Emporium, Drug Fair, Duane Reade, Farmacias El Amal, Happy Harry’s, Kerr, Medi Mart, Snyder, USA Drug)
Worthen Hero	Involves an individual featured in Dennis Worthen’s “Pharmacy Hero” series in JAPhA

These groupings primarily refer to corporate identity and may not apply to specific sites, products, or other assets. Other collections may be added from time to time. To be thorough, also search title and description fields.

To report an error or make a suggestion, please email: research@aihp.org

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AIHP’s Virtual Historical Markers of Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals Across North America

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