Salina Post proudly presents Flashback Friday in partnership with the Smoky Hill Museum. Enjoy a weekly tidbit of local history from the staff at Salina Post and the Smoky Hill Museum as we present "Salina-Flashback Fridays."
By SALINA POST
In the mid-1860s, German-born Oscar Seitz began Salina's first pharmacy — Seitz Eagle Drug Store.
The store became well-known for its medicines, soda fountain and aquarium and continued operation until 1946, when the location closed for good in town.
Seitz Drug Stores began popping up in communities across the north-central region of Kansas, including Ellsworth, which still has a Seitz Drug Store today.
According to the Smoky Hill Museum, Seitz moved to the United States from Germany around 1856 when he was 18 years old, where he worked various jobs until he enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War under General Don Carlos Buell.
Read More: 📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Smoky Hill Museum - Vol. 12
After the war, Seitz opened a drink and confectionary stand in Leavenworth in 1865, where some of his regular customers, Christof Eberhardt and H.H. Sudendorf, visited his store.
By July 1866, Eberhardt and Sudendorf convinced him to move to Salina and begin a drug store.
The first store Seitz built was on South Santa Fe Avenue next to William Haye's Livery, but later, he moved to 102 N. Santa Fe in 1868.
The drug store was not the only business venture Seitz involved himself and his family with — he also helped establish better communication in the newly founded city.
In the 1870s, Seitz led businesses in Salina to install telephone lines across town, connecting the town's mill and lumberyard alongside multiple downtown businesses.
"He immediately became identified with business interests of the town and manifested a spirit which has been commendable all through his life," said in Oscar Seitz's Obituary, Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, 10 Jul 1906.
The drug store was only the first building downtown for Seitz — at one point during his career, he helped create an entire block of buildings that housed various businesses early in Salina's history.
In the Smoky Hill Museum's excerpt on Setiz, fellow early businesspeople described him as a leader and innovator for the town, often handing out advice to young business owners and assisting other businesses when possible.
Seitz involved himself with multiple community affairs and assisted with building the first Masonic Temple in town.
Today, the drug store looks much different than in the late 1800s. Still, Seitz's legacy continues, with multiple downtown businesses finding success through his advice and building up the budding city of Salina.