Fisher Drugs (Gone)
Temple City, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Check out the Googie look of Fisher Drugs in Temple City. The angled facade gave this neighborhood drugstore a bit more flair than the usual prescription stop. Apparently, picking up medicine didn't require leaving modern architecture to the coffee shops.

Reportedly dating to the mid-1950s, Fisher’s served the community during Temple City’s postwar growth. A local recollection of the shop during the 1960s and early 1970s describes a soda fountain in back and an interior finished with modernist woodwork. Quite a reason to linger after the shopping was done.

The supplied history also places The Wonder Years outside Fisher’s in 1992, using the storefront’s older appearance for its suburban setting. A fitting role for a business that already looked the part.

UPDATE: The original Fisher Drugs storefront shown here is gone. Its distinctive facade and soda-fountain memories recall the days when the neighborhood pharmacy offered a place to sit down as well as something to take home. 10-26

Vista Drug (Rem.)
Costa Mesa, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Along West 19th Street in Costa Mesa, Vista Drug offers a reminder of the neighborhood drugstores that once dotted shopping centers throughout Southern California. Business directories trace the independent pharmacy to 1986, giving this little Westside shop a history stretching back some four decades. 05-04

Prescriptions are only part of the story here. Shelves stocked with candles, toys, cleaning supplies, and other everyday odds and ends bring back a bit of the old neighborhood variety store, where a stop for one thing could lead to a look around the rest of the shop.

UPDATE: Vista Drug remains in business. The vintage roadside sign pictured here has since been removed. 10-26

Grandview Drugs (Removed)
Monterey Park, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Here’s the old sign for Grandview Drugs in Monterey Park. This view catches the drugstore name from an earlier chapter of the city’s commercial streets, when an independent pharmacy could become as familiar as the market or barber shop down the block. 04-06

The business reportedly began in the late 1950s or early 1960s, during the San Gabriel Valley’s postwar expansion. New neighborhoods brought customers needing prescriptions, household supplies, and the occasional last-minute purchase on the way home.

Monterey Park changed considerably over the following decades, becoming known for its Chinese American businesses and restaurants. Grandview’s sign recalls one layer of that evolving streetscape, a neighborhood name remembered through an older photograph.

UPDATE: The original sign had already been removed or altered by the April 2006 entry. 10-26

Fair Oaks Pharmacy
Pasadena, CA
Photo courtesy Rod Holcomb

A prescription isn't the only reason to visit Fair Oaks Pharmacy in South Pasadena. The working soda fountain offers a sweeter excuse to stop, while the illuminated signs give roadside enthusiasts something to enjoy outside. 11-10

Opened in 1915 as South Pasadena Pharmacy, the shop became Raymond Pharmacy in the 1920s and 1930s before adopting its present name in the early 1940s. Gertrude Ozmun financed the Arthur Benton-designed building, investing in the corner before Route 66 even existed.

An early-1990s restoration included a soda fountain from McGee Pharmacy in Joplin, Missouri. Another Mother Road connection, this one serving ice cream.

UPDATE: Fair Oaks Pharmacy & Soda Fountain remains open at Mission and Fair Oaks, having marked its 110th anniversary in 2025. Good to see this corner still offering a seat at the counter. 10-26

Owl Drugs
Los Angeles, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Check out this Owl Drugs location in Los Angeles. The older building recalls a time when the neighborhood drugstore was a familiar stop along the shopping street. 04-06

Founded in San Francisco in 1892, Owl grew into a recognizable western chain. Its owl-on-a-mortar-and-pestle logo appeared on advertising and embossed medicine bottles, some now prized by collectors. The cobalt-blue poison bottles certainly made an impression, even without a prescription.

UPDATE: The building and Owl name preserve a glimpse of a chain whose history reaches back more than 130 years. 10-26