Historic Williamsburg

44. Davidson Shop

Williamsburg, VA

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Henry Gill purchased colonial lots 49 and 50 on the north side of Duke of Gloucester Street in 1707 for thirty shillings. He built a structure on the lot within six months and applied for a license to run a tavern on the premises. By 1737 the lot and dwelling had passed out of direct ownership of the Gill family. Apothecary Dr. Robert Davidson and his business partner Thomas Goodwin set up a business on the property, selling "all sorts of chemical and Galenical medicines." They advertised extracts, ointments, pills, balsams and syrups, among many other medical concoctions, and claimed to sell them for the same prices that they sold for in England. Davidson died without a will and heavily in debt in 1738, and his property did not sell until 1744. The estate passed through a succession of owners until it burned to the ground in a huge fire in 1842. This inferno was known for years afterward as the Harris fire.