Quinlan’s Pharmacy

Agnes Quinlan (left) was the first woman in the state of Vermont to become a licensed pharmacist. She graduated from the Albany College of Pharmacy in 1909 and worked at her father’s store in Bennington as his chief assistant.

Her father, Bartholomew A. Quinlan (right), had been inspired to go into the pharmacy business after rooming with a druggist in Troy. In 1898, he quit his job as a foreman at the Holden-Leonard mill and opened a small shop on North Street. Quinlan’s store sold health and beauty products as well as prescription drugs, and boasted a full-service soda fountain. 

Agnes died of pneumonia in 1913, and her brother Ray stepped into her place. In 1921, Quinlan’s moved to a larger store at 463 Main Street. Bartholomew died in 1930, but the 

Quinlan family ran the business until its closing in 1978, when it succumbed to competition from the large pharmacy and supermarket chains.