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All the United States Virginia Fredericksburg Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop

Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop

This war hero's old shop remembers the fine line between medicine and quackery during the Revolutionary War.

Fredericksburg, Virginia

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Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop   Alexiskferia on Wikipedia
Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop   Alexiskferia on Wikipedia
A postcard showing the original look of the shop.   Boston Public Library on Flickr
Interesting cool place and super knowledgeable staff!  
Advantageous locations to apply leaches   ski queen / Atlas Obscura User
Dr. Mercer’s Desk   ski queen / Atlas Obscura User
Fresh supplies   ski queen / Atlas Obscura User
live leeches for bleedings   breaingram / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Hugh Mercer was a Scot, a warrior, a friend of George Washington, and a socially acceptable witch doctor who started his own apothecary on the advice of Washington himself.

A Scottish war doctor who fled his homeland, Mercer came to America in 1747 to escape loyalist forces who were intent on hunting down the survivors of the Battle of Culloden. After arriving in the North American colonies, Mercer befriended then-Colonel George Washington through their mutual participation in a local Masonic lodge. Mercer opened his rural medicine practice in Virginia in the late 1760s, and Washington's own mother, who lived nearby, became one of Mercer's patients. The doctor would go on to fight and perish in the Revolutionary War, but not before leaving behind a trail of historic honoraries including counties, museums, and even his old shop. 

While the building that holds the museum was not his apothecary, it does date to the same time period.  His apothecary was nearby, and historically there was confusion on its exact location. The staff are in period costume and will happily explain the methods and ingredients used in the awkward Colonial version of medicine. The guides are passionate and knowledgeable and will explain in graphic detail, 18th century cures such as blood letting (there are real live leeches available for critical observation), the grittiness of dentistry of the time, and the gruesome details of amputation and surgery during the Revolutionary War. There is also a garden in the back that is still growing the numerous herbs used inside to prepare authentic remedies. 

The museum is located in Historic Downtown Fredericksburg just minutes away from the Kenmore House, the home of George Washington's sister Betty, the Mary Washington House, the home of George Washington's mother, and the Rising Sun Tavern museum, as well as a mixture of antique shops and hipster hangouts which is an appropriate mix of places to accent Mercer's eccentric piece of American history.

Related Tags

American Revolution Museums Medical Museums Medicine Shops Military

Know Before You Go

From I-95 North in VA, take Exit 133 A for Falmouth. Keep straight on US 17 for half a mile, turn right onto Cambridge St., drive 1.6 miles, turn left onto Princess Anne St., drive .4 mile, pass the Sunoco station and stay straight on Princess Anne St. for .7 mile, turn left onto Caroline St., drive for 333 feet. If you reach Amelia St. intersection, you have passed the shop. Free parking is available on street or at a paid four story garage about 4 blocks down.

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beckyfever

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CC, Molly McBride Jacobson, Anna Minster, adarron...

  • CC
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • Anna Minster
  • adarron
  • EricGrundhauser
  • ski queen
  • breaingram
  • Jason Michael Walker
  • MissMyles

Published

December 4, 2012

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Sources
  • http://www.virginia.org/Listings/HistoricSites/HughMercerApothecaryShop/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Mercer_Apothecary
  • http://fredericksburgva.us/hugh-mercers-apothecary-shop/
Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop
1020 Caroline Street
Fredericksburg, Virginia, 22401
United States
38.304085, -77.459871
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Nearby Places

Rising Sun Tavern

Fredericksburg, Virginia

miles away

Fréjus Place

Fredericksburg, Virginia

miles away

Chatham Catalpas

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Explore the Destination Guide

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Fredericksburg

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Nearby Places

Rising Sun Tavern

Fredericksburg, Virginia

miles away

Fréjus Place

Fredericksburg, Virginia

miles away

Chatham Catalpas

Fredericksburg, Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg

Virginia

Places 11

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