G.O. Guy was a small chain of drugstores located in the Seattle area of the U.S. state of Washington. The chain was founded in 1888 by George Omar Guy. Throughout the early 20th century, G.O. Guy's was the second largest drug store chain in Seattle behind Bartell Drugs and predated it by two years. In 1987 Pay 'n Save purchased all six locations and converted most of them to Pay 'n Save express stores, slightly smaller than full service stores. Pay 'n Save was bought by Thrifty PayLess which in turn was bought by Rite Aid.[1]
Original location
editMany modern sources give the location of the first store as the H. K. Owens / Metropole Building at Second Avenue and Yesler Way,[2][3] however contemporary sources indicate that Guy's first store was actually located about two blocks south, at Occidental Avenue and Main Street. For example, Guy's January 31, 1927, obituary in the Seattle Daily Times, reads:
- Mr. Guy started his drug business at the corner of Occidental Avenue and Main Street. After the great fire a year later [i.e. in 1889], which demolished his store, he resumed business in a tent at First Avenue and Main Street and in 1893 occupied, at Second Avenue and Yesler Way, the present site of the drug company.[4]
A Times article from 1934 gives further details of the several years following the fire:
- Guy's first thought was for the medicines, and he saved them to establish headquarters in a first-aid tent, where he stayed until a frame building was finished at Fourth Avenue and Main Street... Later he moved to First Avenue and Main Street and, in 1893, he moved to Second Avenue and Yesler Way. There the store still stands.[5]
Shootout at Second and Yesler
editThe G.O. Guy drugstore at the corner of Second Avenue and Yesler Way in Seattle was the site of an infamous shootout in 1901.[2][3][6]
Seattle police chief William L. Meredith had been fired for corruption as part of a feud with "box house" owner John Considine. John Considine owned the People's Theater, a "box house," offering light entertainment "such as magic acts, singing, dancing, minstrel shows," but also providing sexual services. Their feud had led to Meredith's resignation under pressure.[3][6]
Meredith, out of a job, came gunning for Considine. After Meredith got off a couple of wild shots, Considine's brother Tom Considine managed to grab a gun and use it as a club to fracture Meredith's skull; John Considine shot Meredith in the heart. The struggle lasted about 90 seconds altogether. The Considines were ultimately acquitted for the killing.[3][6][7]
Locations
editLocations included, but not limited to:
- Second Avenue and Yesler Way [8][9][10][11][12]
- 725 3rd Avenue,[13] also described as the corner of 3rd Avenue and Columbia [10][11][12]
- 1401 3rd Avenue in the Mann Building [14][15] also described as the corner of 3rd Avenue and Union, opposite the post office [10][11][12]
- 406 Broadway East,[16] also described as corner Broadway and Harrison [11][12] and as 406 North Broadway [15]
- 4501 University Way [11][12][15]
- 4700 California Avenue SW [11][12]
- 2238 Market Street [11][12][15]
- 4002 Roosevelt Way [12]
- 518 Queen Anne Avenue [12]
- 1928 3rd Avenue,[15] also described as corner of 3rd Avenue and Virginia Street in the Security Market Building [12]
- 1024 Madison Street [12][15]
- 4002 10th Ave NE at north end of University Bridge [11]
- 4727 California Avenue SW [15]
- 427 2nd Avenue South [15]
- 3600 South Village Mall [13]
Notes
edit- ^ Seattle Times Archives 1984-9.
- ^ a b Nancy Bartley, Blaze damages building that survived fire of 1889, Seattle Times, May 22, 2007. Accessed online 19 November 2007.
- ^ a b c d Summary for 423 2nd Ave Extension / Parcel ID 5247800595, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed online 19 November 2007.
- ^ "G.O. Guy, Veteran, Druggist, Succumbs", Seattle Daily Times, 31 January 1927, p.3.
- ^ "Guy Stores Celebrate Soda's Birth", Seattle Daily Times, 31 May 1935, p.12.
- ^ a b c Patrick McRoberts, Police Chief William Meredith is killed on June 25, 1901, HistoryLink, November 4, 1998. Accessed online 19 November 2007.
- ^ Murray Morgan, Skid Road, Ballantine Books (1960). Chapter III: "John Considine and the Box-Houses, 1893–1910"
- ^ Yesler Way from 2nd Ave., Seattle, Curtis, Asahel, Circa 1905. Accessed online 21 October 2009.
- ^ 1924 Seattle City Directory, R.L. Polk, 1924.
- ^ a b c 1927 Seattle City Directory, R.L. Polk, 1927.
- ^ a b c d e f g h 1930 Seattle City Directory, R.L. Polk, 1930.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 1936 Seattle City Directory, R.L. Polk, 1936.
- ^ a b 1960 Seattle City Directory, R.L. Polk, 1960.
- ^ Cheering at Third and Union, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10 April 1996. Accessed online 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h 1948 Seattle City Directory, R.L. Polk, 1948.
- ^ Broadway looking north, 1934, Seattle Municipal Archives feed on Flickr, 16 October 2009. Accessed online 22 October 2009.