White Cross Drugs
Brawley, CA
Photos courtesy Bill Herzog

Sitting at the corner of Main and Sixth streets, White Cross Drugs has been part of downtown Brawley for a very long time. The big corner sign and straightforward storefront have greeted generations of local shoppers, back when a neighborhood drugstore offered quite a bit more than prescriptions. 06-06

White Cross opened around 1908, making it one of the Imperial Valley’s oldest continuously operating businesses. The building was repaired and given a more modern appearance after the damaging Imperial Valley earthquake of 1940.

White Cross Drugs
Brawley, CA
Photos courtesy Bill Herzog

During the 1940s and 1950s, customers could stop at the soda fountain and lunch counter inside. That counter disappeared by the mid-1960s as the pharmacy expanded its cosmetics, perfume, and retail areas. Too bad. Filling a prescription probably went better with a milkshake.

UPDATE: White Cross remains open at the same corner as White Cross Pharmacy. The old exterior sign frame survives, although its original neon and lettering have been altered over the years. 09-26