Our History

Creedmoor Drug Company, Inc, became an established pharmacy in March 14, 1910. Originally the company was owned by a group of stockholders, with majority of the stocks being owned by a doctor, J.F. Sanford, who primarily ran the pharmacy at that time. He operated the business from Railroad Street (now Elm Street) for a few years before moving the store to a location on Main Street.

The pharmacy was later bought out by John Lambreth Rogers and continued to be family owned ever since. Rogers graduated from University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 1914 and went to work for the owners of Creedmoor Drug. Rogers eventually bought all of the stocks to become the sole owner.

In 1942, ownership changed to Otis W Aiken and C.F. Fleming. Fleming was not a pharmacist, but a businessman, leaving Aiken to run the pharmacy. Fleming moved the store’s location to 201 North Main Street. On August 1, 1956, a pharmacist Herman Price, a South Carolina alumnus, purchased one-half of the pharmacy from Mr. Aiken. Price passed away October 30, 1961 of a rare blood disease, at which time Aiken hired Cy Wheeler of Oxford, NC to come in as a pharmacist.

Claude Wheeler, from Chapel Hill and a University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy alumnus was then Pharmacist at Sloan Drugs in Chapel Hill. He proceeded to purchase Price’s share of the store in 1962 and began working as Aiken’s partner. Aiken passed away the morning of Claude’s first day, thus leaving him to run the store without any help or guidance in the daily activities of the store. This led to a tough first few weeks but Claude overcame the challenge, persevered, and ultimately, he bought out Aiken’s share of the business to become the sole owner of Creedmoor Drug Company, Inc. He moved his family, wife Velva, and three children, Cam, Lynda, and Bobby, from Chapel Hill and began their lives in Creedmoor, NC.

In 1968, the Granville Theatre, located a few doors down from the drug store at 108 North Main Street, burned down. Claude took advantage of this opportunity to increase the size of the store and offer a larger selection of merchandise by purchasing the remains of the theatre. Back then the pharmacy consisted of three booths, a fountain, and a large section of comic books and magazines. After a few years of renovating the new location, the merchandise was transferred from the old location to the present location on March 14, 1970. This new building allowed for an expansion of a health center, a cosmetic section, and expanded fountain service to allow for homemade sandwiches, a smoke shoppe, and an expanded card section. Claude worked 8:30am to 6:00pm every day, all year, to ensure the best quality of service and health care to his patients.

On January 1, 1983, Bobby Wheeler, also a graduate from University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, came back to work for his father. This led to Bobby and his wife Debbie, to purchase the pharmacy January 1st, 1984 from Claude and Velva. Through the years that Bobby has owned the pharmacy, multiple improvements were made including the upgrading of technology, and different areas in the pharmacy, such as the soda fountain. Bobby continues the tradition that was started many years ago in being committed to service in the community, our schools, and our churches.