Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop

4.7
(245 reviews)
Fredericksburg, United States
Historic Pharmacy

The Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop, housed in an authentic 18th-century building (circa 1772), presents a fascinating glimpse into Revolutionary-era medical practices through its meticulously restored apothecary museum. Dr. Hugh Mercer, a Scottish physician who fled Scotland after the Battle of Cullode...

Open
Back to Fredericksburg

About the Museum

Established

1960

Affiliated Institution

Washington Heritage Museums (independent nonprofit)

Collection Size

Hundreds of artifacts (authentic shop furniture, apothecary jars, medical tools, period remedies)

Notable Exhibits

  • •Period apothecary furnishings
  • •Jars of leeches and medical tools
  • •Colonial medicinal garden
  • •Revolutionary War medical displays

Exhibit Focus

colonial apothecary practicemedicinal herbs and preparationsRevolutionary War medicineHugh Mercer biographyTraditional MedicineMedical HistoryPharmacy PracticeHerbal MedicineApothecary History

Visiting Information

Opening Hours

May–Oct: Mon–Sat 10 am–4 pm; Sun 12–4 pm Nov–Apr: Mon–Sat 11 am–4 pm; Sun 12–4 pm Closed Tuesdays (off-season)

Admission Fee

$10 adults; $8 seniors/AAA/military; $5 youth (6–18). Children under 6 free

Booking

Groups welcome, guided interpretation available

Accessibility

Historic building with steps at entry and narrow interiors – not fully wheelchair accessible. Staff assistance available for entry steps.

Quick Facts

Languages:English
Services:Guided interpretation, Colonial garden tours, Live demonstrations

Photos

Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop - Image 1
1 of 1

Google Photos

Reviews

Reviews not available via API

While this location may have reviews on Google Maps, they're not accessible through our current API integration.

View reviews on Google Maps

Contact Information

+1 540-373-3362
hmas@washingtonheritagemuseums.org
Visit Website
1020 Caroline St, Fredericksburg, VA 22401, USA

Follow Us

Location

Loading map...

Getting There & Nearby

Transportation

Located at 1020 Caroline Street in Historic Downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. Accessible via I-95 (Exit 133A), with free street parking available or paid parking garage approximately 4 blocks away.

Nearby Attractions

  • •Fredericksburg Battlefield
  • •Historic Downtown Fredericksburg
  • •Mary Washington House
  • •Other Washington Heritage Museums

Browse Museums by City

Adana

Turkey • Turkey's first dentistry museum featuring unique collection including Atatürk's jaw mold in historic mansion setting.

Museums1
CountryTurkey

Alexandria

United States • Preserved 18th-century apothecary with connections to George Washington and 15,000+ original artifacts.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Arlington

United States • Federal museum documenting pharmaceutical regulation history with pre-regulation pharmaceutical artifacts.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Bangkok

Thailand • Seven sub-museums at Thailand's oldest hospital preserving traditional pharmaceutical practices and healing methods.

Museums4
CountryThailand

Basel

Switzerland • Historic "Zum Vorderen Sessel" building housing one of the world's largest pharmaceutical collections.

Museums1
CountrySwitzerland

Berlin

Germany • 300 years of medical innovation featuring pathological collections and pharmaceutical preparation tools.

Museums1
CountryGermany

Budapest

Hungary • Historic "Golden Eagle" pharmacy with bizarre remedies and original 18th-century furnishings.

Museums1
CountryHungary

Buenos Aires

Argentina • Regional medical and pharmaceutical heritage museum showcasing South American pharmaceutical development.

Museums1
CountryArgentina

Cairo

Egypt • Historic pharmaceutical center featuring century-old pharmacy and first Arab Faculty of Medicine museum.

Museums2
CountryEgypt

Cape Town

South Africa • Historical medical heritage center showcasing both western and traditional medicine in provincial museum setting.

Museums1
CountrySouth Africa

Castor

Canada • Western Canadian pharmacy heritage museum featuring artifacts from over 100 pharmacies across the region.

Museums1
CountryCanada

Charleston

United States • University-affiliated collection with rotating pharmacy and medical history exhibits.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Chicago

United States • Historic mansion turned medical museum with pharmaceutical collections and surgical history.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Childers

Australia • Heritage-listed pharmaceutical museum featuring one of Australia's largest collections of early pharmaceutical history.

Museums1
CountryAustralia

Chiltern

Australia • National Trust historic pharmacy preserved as museum with over 4,000 original items in pristine condition.

Museums1
CountryAustralia

Cleveland

United States • Comprehensive pharmacy collection with 175,000+ artifacts featuring 1880s pharmacy exhibits and extensive apothecary bottles.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Cluj-Napoca

Romania • First pharmacy in Cluj with reconstructed historic interiors and original furnishings.

Museums1
CountryRomania

Edinburgh

United Kingdom • 500+ year Royal College of Surgeons collection preserving apothecary connections and antiseptic discovery materials.

Museums1
CountryUnited Kingdom

Edirne

Turkey • Award-winning museum in restored 15th-century Ottoman hospital showcasing innovative medical practices including music therapy.

Museums1
CountryTurkey

Florence

Italy • World's oldest pharmacy established by Dominican friars, still operating as luxury store.

Museums1
CountryItaly

Fort Lauderdale

United States • Pharmacy education heritage museum featuring historic pharmacy equipment and pharmaceutical memorabilia.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Frederick

United States • Civil War medicine center featuring battlefield pharmaceutical practices and medicinal herb gardens.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Fredericksburg

United States • Colonial-era pharmacy of Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer with live interpretive demonstrations.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Gose

Japan • Home to Japan's oldest continuously operating pharmacy (founded 1319) with traditional medicine collections.

Museums1
CountryJapan

Heidelberg

Germany • World-renowned pharmacy museum in historic Heidelberg Castle with 2,000 years of pharmaceutical history.

Museums1
CountryGermany

Houston

United States • Interactive pharmaceutical education museum featuring DEA-supported drug education exhibits and pharmaceutical chemistry demonstrations.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Indianapolis

United States • Full-scale replica of 19th-century Indiana pharmacy with soda fountain and vintage remedies.

Museums2
CountryUnited States

Jerusalem

Israel • Historic Franciscan pharmacy heritage in Old City featuring famous "Balm of Jerusalem" pharmaceutical tradition.

Museums1
CountryIsrael

Johannesburg

South Africa • Home to South Africa's first medical museum with over 40,000 objects illustrating pharmaceutical and medical history.

Museums1
CountrySouth Africa

Kakamigahara

Japan • Home to Japan's first comprehensive pharmaceutical institution with extensive archives and medicinal botanical garden.

Museums1
CountryJapan

Kaunas

Lithuania • Comprehensive medical and pharmaceutical history in historic 16th-century building.

Museums1
CountryLithuania

Kraków

Poland • One of the world's oldest and largest pharmacy museums with 20,000+ artifacts across five floors.

Museums1
CountryPoland

Kuwait City

Kuwait • Private medical museum within active medical center showcasing evolution of medical practice with 400+ antiques.

Museums1
CountryKuwait

Kyoto

Japan • Historic city featuring traditional pharmacy heritage and cultural preservation of pharmaceutical practices.

Museums1
CountryJapan

Lisbon

Portugal • 5,000 years of health care history including space medicine and traditional pharmacy collections.

Museums1
CountryPortugal

Llívia

Spain • One of Europe's oldest pharmacies with stunning Renaissance ceramics in a unique Spanish enclave.

Museums1
CountrySpain

London

United Kingdom • World's most significant pharmaceutical heritage collections including Wellcome Collection and Hunterian Museum.

Museums2
CountryUnited Kingdom

Lviv

Ukraine • Europe's oldest continuously operating pharmacy with replica alchemist's cellar.

Museums1
CountryUkraine

Manila

Philippines • Home to Philippines' oldest museum with extensive medical and pharmaceutical artifact collections.

Museums1
CountryPhilippines

Manipal

India • Medical school collection with 3,000+ specimens offering pharmaceutical focus within anatomical displays.

Museums1
CountryIndia

Matanzas

Cuba • UNESCO-recognized French colonial pharmacy preserving over 500,000 prescriptions.

Museums1
CountryCuba

McGill

United States • Perfectly preserved 20th-century Nevada drugstore with complete 1950s-era inventory.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

New Delhi

India • Traditional Islamic medicine collection with extensive manuscripts documenting Unani pharmaceutical practices.

Museums1
CountryIndia

New Orleans

United States • Historic Creole pharmacy heritage with unique voodoo remedy displays and America's first licensed pharmacist.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Niagara-on-the-Lake

Canada • National Historic Site featuring authentic 1869 pharmacy restoration from practice operating 1820-1964.

Museums1
CountryCanada

Osaka

Japan • Birthplace of Japan's pharmaceutical industry in the historic Doshomachi district, featuring company heritage museums.

Museums1
CountryJapan

Oslo

Norway • Reconstructed 1860s pharmacy within Norway's largest cultural history museum complex.

Museums1
CountryNorway

Padova

Italy • Interactive medical museum in historic hospital featuring pharmaceutical artifacts from 1416-1789 and University of Padua materials.

Museums1
CountryItaly

Pasay City

Philippines • First medical museum in the Philippines showcasing healthcare evolution and medical practice history.

Museums1
CountryPhilippines

Philadelphia

United States • America's premier medical museum city featuring the Mütter Museum with 25,000+ pharmaceutical artifacts and Benjamin Rush's medicinal plant garden.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Riga

Latvia • Hidden gem in Old Town showcasing Latvian and European pharmacy history.

Museums2
CountryLatvia

Rome

Italy • Italian pharmaceutical heritage collection featuring apothecary vases and alchemical glassware from major Italian centers.

Museums1
CountryItaly

Sacramento

United States • California pharmacy history through 1,000+ artifacts and professional association heritage.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Salvador

Brazil • Colonial pharmaceutical heritage center featuring Brazil's first hospital museum with preserved 1867 pharmaceutical cabinet.

Museums1
CountryBrazil

San Antonio

United States • Nation's only Army medical museum preserving 200+ years of military medical advances and field pharmacy equipment.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Shanghai

China • World's largest Traditional Chinese Medicine museum with comprehensive collection of TCM artifacts and documents.

Museums1
CountryChina

Sibiu

Romania • One of Romania's oldest pharmacy buildings showcasing Viennese-style pharmacy and homeopathy.

Museums1
CountryRomania

Silver Spring

United States • Military medical museum preserving 25 million artifacts documenting pharmaceutical history from Civil War to modern vaccine development.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

St. John's

Canada • Maritime pharmaceutical heritage in historic Art Deco building with outport community medicine focus.

Museums2
CountryCanada

Tallinn

Estonia • Europe's oldest continuously operating pharmacy with medieval remedies and herbal apothecary.

Museums1
CountryEstonia

Tehran

Iran • Iran's first medical museum showcasing rich Persian and Islamic medicine heritage through national collaboration.

Museums1
CountryIran

Tokyo

Japan • Modern center featuring historic pharmacy heritage through traditional stores and cultural preservation.

Museums1
CountryJapan

Tucson

United States • University-based museum with one of the world's largest pharmaceutical collections and unique curiosities.

Museums1
CountryUnited States

Uda

Japan • Historic pharmaceutical center housed in former Hosokawa family residence, showcasing local pharmaceutical industry development.

Museums1
CountryJapan

Warsaw

Poland • Museum honoring Poland's pioneering female pharmacist with early 20th-century pharmacy recreation.

Museums1
CountryPoland

Yerevan

Armenia • Private medical museum showcasing Armenian traditional medicine and medical heritage with international partnerships.

Museums1
CountryArmenia
View All Cities

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions