Lauvaux Pharmacy

02 Jul 2022, last revised 21 Jul 2023

The single bottle from Lauvaux Pharmacy was discovered after the publication of the bottle book in 1978. Little is known about this pharmacy. It was not listed in the Polk directories, however, we do not have access to the 1885 volume. It is only in the newspaper that we found Leon Lauvaux mentioned as having a pharmacy in Houghton.

The drug store itself had a history that links back to Shelden & Sheffer's drug store, which presumably was re-opened by Graham Pope. Pope sold the drug store to Hebert & Deschamps in Feb 1872 (4). In Dec 1876, they moved the store to two doors east of Isle Royale block (5,6). In Mar 1881, Hebert & Deschamps dissolved their partnership, with Hebert continuing the Houghton store and Deschamps continuing the Lake Linden store (7,8).

In Feb 1883, Leon Lauvaux of Copper Harbor purchased the drug store from Hebert, including the building on east Shelden St. and the stock of drugs (1). The plan was for him to take possession in the next month and carry on the drug business with Dr. Paquet being in charge (1). In Mar 1883, Dr. E. H. Paquet was said to have taken over the business from G. S. Hebert (9). In Apr 1883, Paquet was receiving a full line of fancy goods and medicines (11). In May 1883, it was announced that Lauvaux sold the stock of drugs and fixtures back to Hebert, who intended to open a drug store in Superior City (10). The expectation was that if Lauvaux could make the proper connections, he could open a first-class manufacturing chemical laboratory and drug store in the Hebert stand (10). Lauvaux advertised the business on 13 Sep 1883 to 09 Oct 1884 in the Portage Lake Mining Gazette.

Newspaper ad - Feb 1884

Newspaper ad - May 1884

Lauvaux purchased another property, the Northrup block on the northwest corner of Shelden St. and Isle Royale St., in Mar 1884 (2) and rented it to Josiah Paull (3). So it seems Lauvaux was a real estate owner, while Dr. Paquet was the druggist.

We have not found when the store closed or what happened to it. We also could not locate genealogical records for Lauvaux. In Jun 1886, Lauvaux returned from a five-month vacation visiting his home and friends in France (12); thus, we at least know that he was originally from France. It is clear, however, that his one bottle is one of the earliest embossed pharmacy bottles of the Copper Country.

References

1. anonymous. (1883, Feb 15). Local Jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
2. anonymous. (1884, Mar 20). Local Jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
3. anonymous. (1884, Apr 03). Local Jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
4. anonymous. (1872, Feb 15). Sold Out. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
5. anonymous. (1877, Jan 11). ad for Hebert & Deschamps. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 1.
6. anonymous. (1876, Dec 14). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
7. anonymous. (1881, Mar 31). Local Jottings Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
8. anonymous. (1881, Mar 31). Notice of Dissolution. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
9. anonymous. (1883, Mar 08). Local Jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
10. anonymous. (1883, May 03). Local Jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
11. anonymous. (1883, Apr 05). Local Jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
12. anonymous. (1886, Jun 10). Around Town. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.