{"nrhp_refnum":"02000618","name":"Smith's Pharmacy","other_names":["121-5066"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3114 Chestnut Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newport News","county":"Newport News","state":"VA","lat":36.99314138500006,"lon":-76.40883354699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-06-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Health/Medicine","Social History","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building at 3114 Chestnut Avenue in Newport News, Virginia, built in 1946 as a pharmacy with a second floor of medical offices added in 1952. It was designed by Henry L. Livas, Architect.","why_significant":"The building is tied to Dr. Charles Calvin Smith, who ran the first Black-owned pharmacy in Newport News and made his store a community gathering place and training ground for aspiring Black pharmacists. It is also an almost unaltered example of a post-World War II community pharmacy, with its original counters, soda fountain, booths and fixtures intact.","narrative":"Smith's Pharmacy, at 3114 Chestnut Avenue in Newport News, is a two-story brick commercial building. The first floor opened in 1946 as a drugstore with a soda fountain, and a second floor of medical offices was added in 1952. Henry L. Livas, one of Virginia's earliest African-American architects, designed it. Dr. Charles Calvin Smith, a pharmacist, had opened the city's first Black-owned pharmacy in 1921. His later store served as a community meeting place, an externship site for Black pharmacy students during segregation, a newspaper drop-off for student carriers, and a late-night stop for shipyard workers. He also encouraged people to register and vote. The Smith family ran the business until 1999. The interior survives almost untouched, including the pharmacy counters, shelves, soda fountain, wooden booths, ceiling tiles, and many lighting and plumbing fixtures. Its integrity makes it a rare example of a postwar community pharmacy in Virginia.","period_of_significance":"1946-1952","architect_builder":"Henry L. Livas, Architect; Elbert Walker, Project Architect","architectural_style":"Early 20th Century American Movement: Commercial Style","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"The pharmacy was sold to the Eckerd Corporation in 1999 and left unaltered. The form says a Smith family member planned to return to manage the store after designation.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.418636-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/6820/41682073/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/02000618.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000618/431f98d751-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000618/431f98d751-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Joseph Sullivan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smith_Pharmacy_(Front).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Joseph Sullivan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smith_Pharmacy_(Front).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682073","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith%27s_Pharmacy","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16900298"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/newport-news/smiths-pharmacy-02000618/"}