Sager & Jennings Drug Store

 

 

     Sager & Jennings Drug Store used to occupy the corner of Main Street and Clinton Avenue. It was demolished and a new building took its place. The new building was occupied by Wilk's Drug Store, which had a nice soda fountain*. Later the drug store was sold to Dime Savings and Loan Association. When the savings bank sold the building, the new owner converted the building to an Asian restaurant. The restaurant closed several years ago and the building was put up for sale.

     Aaron Sager started his drug store business in 1858 at 15 North Main Street, Cortland. Major Sager was wounded in action during the Civil War and mustered out in 1863. He reestablished his drug store after the war at the corner of Main Street and Clinton Avenue, then known as Mill Street.

    

     In 1876, he formed a partnership with Emmett Jennings. Their line was “proprietary medicines and druggists’ sundries.” Paints, oils and varnishes were also sold at their business location.

     Aaron Sager studied medicine in the office of Hoyt & Mercer in Syracuse. Prof. Alfred Mercer of Syracuse University was a member of the firm. Mr. Sager and his family moved to Cortland from Syracuse in 1856.

     Emmett Jennings was born in Palermo, N.Y. and studied chemistry at the University of Illinois. According to the author of Grip's Historical Souvenir of Cortland, Mr. Jennings was “a careful and reliable pharmacist.”

     The corner of Main Street and Clinton Avenue was the center of the trolley system. It was a convenient and busy stop for passengers from several connected villages.

* suggested by blogger "inthewild"--thanks, J.P. 

 

 

Maj. Aaron Sager