gretchen bulova: my name is gretchen bulova, and i am the director of the apothecary museum in alexandria, virginia. the museum is owned and operated by the city of alexandria. today we are going to look at the stabler-leadbeater apothecary museum and we will learn a little bit more about its history. alexandria in the 1790's is a booming economy. it is a thriving seaport, there is a lot of new construction in town, a lot of people are starting to move to the city. edward stabler moves from leesburg to alexandria in 1792, and he opens a small shop a couple of doors down from here today. he moved to this location in 1805, and that incorporates the building next door into his business and uses that as his warehouse. so an apothecary, in this time period, was where people went to essentially see the doctor. most people did not see a doctor. they went to an apothecary. they would tell them what was wrong, and they would mix up something to help cure what ails them. in the 18th century, doctors were trained generally by university. they would go through a formal set of courses to learn their p

gretchen bulova: my name is gretchen bulova, and i am the director of the apothecary museum in alexandria, virginia. the museum is owned and operated by the city of alexandria. today we are going to look at the stabler-leadbe