Willman's Drug
Store
WILLMAN’S DRUG STORE was in operation from 1917 to 1989 when Louis
Alvin Willman and his father,
Samuel Willman purchased the store
from Luther Kessler. The store was located on E. Partridge street
on the
village square. Willman’s became an agent for the
Peoria Rockford Bus Company. Riders would wait at the store
for
the
bus. In the store customers could purchase non-prescription drugs,
veterinary medicines, toiletries,
wallpaper and paint, cameras, film
and film processing, pipes and tobacco, greeting cards, school
supplies and
candy. The soda
fountain was a favorite for after
school treats like Green Rivers, Cherry Cokes, ice cream sodas
and
sundaes. One
could even weigh themselves on a penny scale. Chicago
Tribune newspaper was sold there.
In 1969 the store was
moved one door west next to the Metamora Courthouse. The new store was more
modern
with a furnace rather than
coal-fired stove in the rear for
heat. His wife, Edith and family members, Kenneth,
Quentin and
Phyllis helped to
operate the store.
Prior to owning the drug store Mr. Willman served as Postmaster
at Metamora for nine years. He was a World
War I
veteran and a
charter member of the American Legion Post 89, where he was past
commander. On Memorial
Day in
the 1920s the Willman Family began to
decorate the graves of Veterans in the area each with an American
flag. A task they continue to do today.
Alvin was on the Oakwood Cemetery Board and sold cemetery plots
at the store. He also served on the
Metamora
Volunteer Fire
Department for years. His death occurred in 1990 at the age of 98.
History and
photo submitted by Shirley A. Adams.
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