Slated for demolition just a few years ago, the Palmer Pharmacy building is now on the path to preservation. The building, which was at one time the only African-American pharmacy in Lexington, is notable for both its unique Modernist architectural style and its historic significance. Photo furnished
With help from a recently awarded national grant and other additional funding, one of the city’s first Black-owned pharmacy buildings is slated for rehab
In 2017, the National Historic Trust for Preservation launched the African American Cultural Heritage Fund, a campaign designed to “preserve and protect places that represent activism, achievement and resilience among African Americans” – places that, the organization notes, are often overlooked in American history. From places with strong ties to civil rights history to former homes of famous Black artists, more than 150 sites across the country have been granted funding by the campaign, which is the largest preservation effort ever undertaken in support of Black historic sites.
In July, the campaign announced a list of 40 national projects that will receive grants this year – a list that includes Palmer’s Pharmacy, a distinct Modernist building on the corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets in Lexington that was slated for demolition just four years ago. With baby blue accents and boarded-up windows, the building is significant not only for its unique International-Style architectural design – commissioned by Dr. Zirl Palmer, the pharmacist who bought the property in 1959 – but also for its historic role as the former site of one of the city’s first Black-owned pharmacies.
Dr. Zirl Palmer
Born and raised in West Virginia in the pre-civil rights era, Palmer, who passed away in 1982, broke through color barriers his entire life. Because West Virginia didn’t allow Black students to attend professional school, after graduating from Bluefield State College, he moved to New Orleans to attend Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy, successfully acquiring train fare and partial tuition assistance from the same home state that wouldn’t allow him to pursue his dreams within its borders. In 1951, Palmer moved to Lexington with the intention of serving the city’s African American population during the time of segregation, opening his first pharmacy in the mid-1950s on the corner of Fifth and Race streets. In an oral history interview with Edward Owens of Lexington’s Urban League recorded in 1978, Palmer noted that while Lexington had Black doctors, dentists and optometrists at the time, the city had no Black pharmacists, making it difficult for the African American community to get the medications its residents needed. This fact largely informed his decision to move to this city to start his business.
In 1961, Palmer opened his second pharmacy location, Palmer’s Pharmacy, Luncheonette, and Doctor’s Office, on the corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets. Beyond serving as a place where Lexington’s Black community could get medicine and sundries, Palmer’s new business – the first Black-owned Rexel Drug Store franchise in America – featured office space for Black physicians and a Black lawyer, and a lunch counter and soda fountain that became a significant gathering place for the neighborhood. Palmer noted that when he first came to Lexington, there was no place in town where a Black person could sit down and drink a soda. His vision and perseverance opened doors for his community.
“Black pharmacists were such a rarity in Lexington that when I came here, I couldn’t find an ice cream company that would sell me ice cream,” he said in the interview with Owens. Eventually, Palmer noted, he convinced Dixie Ice Cream Company to sell him ice cream, estimating that his pharmacy sold over 5,000 gallons of ice cream during its first year – a success that helped Dixie win various local promotional contests.
Dr. Zirl Palmer owned three different pharmacy locations in Lexington during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968, the third, pictured at above, was destroyed by a bomb that trapped Palmer and his family inside for hours. Images furnished
Following several years of growth and success at the Fifth Street location, Palmer opened a new pharmacy on Georgetown Street, but unlike the building currently slated for preservation, no remnants of that site remain today. In 1968, a tragic and tumultuous year in America, the location was destroyed by a bomb, with Palmer; his wife, Marian; and their 4-year-old daughter inside. The family was trapped in the rubble for hours before being sent to the hospital; five others were hospitalized as well. Ku Klux Klan grand dragon Phillip J. Campbell was later convicted of the bombing.
Traumatized by the event and fearing his family’s safety, Palmer closed his business following the bombing, though he continued to be civically active in the Lexington community, with a resume that includes becoming the first African American to become a member of the University of Kentucky board of trustees. Other civic involvement included operating a health care program at his church, West Main Baptist, and serving on boards and committees including the Kentucky Human Rights Commission, the Civic Center Board, the Optimist Club, Big Brothers, and Community Action Lexington-Fayette.
Today, the Palmer Pharmacy building on Fifth and Chestnut streets is not only the last remaining physical site in Lexington signifying the tremendous achievements and sacrifices of Palmer but is also the last structure in the city built, owned and operated by an African American pharmacist during the era of segregation. Acquired in 2016 by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government after serving as the site for the Catholic Action Center’s day shelter for many years, the building has been vacant for years, deteriorating and falling into decay. In large part due to efforts of the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, which has worked to bring attention to the property and has organized a consortium directly related to finding funding and a new use for the building that will honor its past, the building has been saved from its planned demolition for the time being. A phased rehab is currently planned, under the leadership of a new non-profit: Preserving Palmer Place, Inc.
For more information on the building and efforts to preserve it, visit www.bluegrasstrust.org/dr-zirl-palmer-and-preserving-palmer-place.