McLenahan & Powell


Company Names, addresses, dates: 1
  McClenahan & Powell, 430 Freemason, Norfolk VA (1897-1901)
  McClenahan William A, 430 Freemason, Norfolk VA (1902-1912)
  McClenahan William A, 330 E Freemason, Norfolk VA (1913-1914)

Notes:
William A McClenahan was born in 1867 in North Carolina2.
He was a clerk at Gatling's Pharmacy in 1894.1
By 1897 he had teamed up with W. Lee Powell to form the "McClenahan & Powell" drugstore.

In January of 1897, they offered "Free Gold". Specifically, they advertised that they would award $7.50 worth of gold to whoever could spell the most words using the letters from the word "DRUGGISTS". You had to make a purchase of at least 50-cents in order to enter the contest. 3

The initial address of McClenahan & Powel at 430 Freemason was the same location as the Taylor Brothers Pharmacy in previous years. Note that 198 Freemason was renumbered to be 430 Freemason in 1897. The address was also sometimes referred to as "Corner Freemason and Bank Streets".

Starting in 1901, McClenahan had dropped Powell and became the sole owner of the drug store.4
I don't know what happened to Powell after that, but McClenahan continued to operate the store until 1914. The address changed from 430 Freemason to 330 Freemason in 1912.1

I couldn't find out what happened to McClenahan after 1914. Starting in 1916, the "Ruden Drug Store" was listed at 330 Freemason.

Bottles:
mcclenahan_01 This is a clear 3.5" bottle embossed:
vertical: McCLENAHAN & POWELL / DRUGGISTS / NORFOLK, VA.
base: *** WT&CO / A / PAT JAN 18 1898
mcclenahan_02 This is a clear 4.1" bottle embossed:
vertical: McCLENAHAN & POWELL / DRUGGISTS / NORFOLK, VA.
base: *** WT&CO / PAT DEC 11 94
mcclenahan_03 This is a clear 4.6" (2 oz) bottle embossed:
horizontal: 3ii
vertical: McCLENAHAN


1 Norfolk City directories, 1851,66,70,72,74-75,77,80,82-83,85-86,88-92,94-95,97-99,1900-20,22-25,27-28,30
2 1900 US Census entry for William A. McClenahan on Freemason Street in Norfolk
3 Daily Pilot (Norfolk), 27-Jan-1897, p.3 (article titled "FREE GOLD")
4 Norfolk Landmark, 12-Dec-1901, p.8 (Ad for Wm A McClenahan successor to McClenahan & Powell)


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This page last updated on February 19, 2026.