Baur's Pharmacy

Baur’s Pharmacy was a household name in Terre Haute for nearly a century. It was founded by John Jacob Baur, an emigrant from Zurich, Switzerland in 1866. The original business was located on the southeast corner of 7th and Wabash. It was a handsome three-story brick structure, 50’ x 120’, beautifully furnished and widely considered as one of the most attractive in Western Indiana. Especially noteworthy was Mr. Baur’s work ethic. In 1880, Samuel Barnes Gookins, journalist, lawyer, politician and judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana wrote, “Baur probably devoted his time as fully and exclusively to his calling as any many who ever lived in Terre Haute”. As a manufacturing chemist, Mr. Baur’s reputation was known throughout the country. His pharmacy carried a large assortment of drugs, remedies, tinctures, essences, toilet articles, perfumes and many kinds of “fancy goods”. Two of his many famous medicaments include Baur’s Lettuce Lotion for the face and hands and Baur’s Iron, Wine and Peruvian Bark Tonic, a blood remedy and revitalizer for an over-strained body. The Baur’s resided at 202 South 8th Street and the children attended Terre Haute public schools. Absent an advanced formal education himself, Mr. Baur sent sons Jacob and Charles to the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Mr. Baur died suddenly in 1886 while visiting relatives in Switzerland. He was 62. His sons managed the pharmacy after his death.
Meanwhile son Arthur Baur moved the pharmacy to a new site at the northeast corner of 7th and Ohio. Later, Baur’s Pharmacy relocated to 661 Wabash where business was conducted for many years. In 1939 the pharmacy was sold to Albert Joab and subsequently to Benjamin Muncie and Stew Martin, who eventually closed the business in