Photograph: The New Drug Store (Lacombe) Building on Court Street in downtown Opelousas as it appears today (2023)
By: Concerned Citizens
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A building that is sure to catch your eye on Court Street, right across from the St. Landry Parish Courthouse in the heart of historic downtown Opelousas, is the Lacombe/New Drug Store. The building has been part of the town’s landscape for over one hundred years and is a contributing element to the Opelousas National Historic District listed as an honor on the National Register of Historic Places.
Lacombe Building
Located on the east side of Court Street, between Bellevue and Landry streets, the building was constructed in c.1918-1919 by A. L. “Larry” Lacombe. It was referred to as the A. L. Lacombe Building or simply the Lacombe Building. In newspapers over the years, it was said to be between the Planter’s Bank (Union Bank Building) and the old Lacombe Hotel building.
Austin L. Lacombe (A. L. “Larry” Lacombe) was a successful insurance agent in Opelousas at the time. The son of Austin Lacombe (the very popular mine host of the old Lacombe Hotel) and Corinne Joubert, Larry was involved in the Opelousas community and very much a part of the local social scene.
The Lacombe insurance business operated in an office on South Court Street, on the east side between Landry and Vine streets. When his growing business required more space, Larry had the Lacombe building constructed just down the block from his old location.
When completed, the new building was the office for the insurance company operated by A. L. “Larry” Lacombe. In 1919, the real estate office of C. P. Dunbar also occupied one of the office spaces in the Lacombe Building. In 1923, the New Drug Store opened on the bottom floor of the Lacombe Building.
New Drug Store
The New Drug Store, a Rexall Drug company owned by Charles B. Genin and A. J. Boudreaux, opened for business in the Lacombe Building on Thursday morning, August 2, 1923. The grand opening attracted hundreds of people, with a free give-a-way of soda water and ice cream between the hours of 4PM to 8PM on that day.
Mr. A. J. Boudreaux (called “Doc” Boudreaux), a graduate pharmacist with a diploma from the Atlanta College of Pharmacy, managed the store when it opened. He came to Opelousas from Rayne where he was employed by druggist Olivier Broussard. A native of Lafayette, Boudreaux worked for years at the Owl Drug Store in that city. He was described as a thorough “mixer” and a good businessman.
Charles Genin settled in Opelousas in about 1917, and immediately became actively involved in the community. He worked as a traveling salesman, always selling not just his products, but Opelousas as well, promoting it as a great place to live and do business. He put his words into action in 1923 when he became part owner of the New Drug Store.
When the drug store opened in 1923, one of its first employees was Anthony “Tony” Chachere, who became a pharmacist in 1927, and continued to work at the New Drug Store until he went to work with Mr. Genin at Cash Wholesale Drug Company in 1932.
In March of 1924, Dr. R. Beridon, a native of Avoyelles Parish who specialized in the treatment of the eye, ear and nose, moved his practice to Opelousas. His office was in the Lacombe Building, on the second floor right above the New Drug Store. In 1928, Parkerson and Jones Income Tax Service, owned by J. D. Parkerson and G. S. Jones had an office on the second floor of the Lacombe Building as well. About that time people began referring to the building as the New Drug Store.
The New Drug Store Building
In 1929 “Doc” Boudreaux became a promoter of local French music. He sold records at the New Drug Store and even took local and area artists like Patrick Pellerin, Slim Doucet, Christine Muszar and Jeanne LeBlanc to Atlanta, GA, where they recorded new songs. He also traveled with the artists to other cities like Dallas, TX to promote French music records.
In October of 1930, the façade of the drug store building got a makeover when Boudreaux added show windows to its front. Doc Boudreaux told the Clarion-News at that time “it is an effort to make more attractive displays of our many articles handled.”
In April of 1932, Doc Boudreaux took over as sole owner of the New Drug Store. Later in August of that year Boudreaux installed a new electric fountain in the drug store. It was modern in construction and provided faster service at the soda fountain.
In 1936, extensive renovation work was done on the New Drug Store building. The front façade was improved; a new prescription department was established on the inside; the building interior was painted; and display cases and counters were removed to make more space and improve the appearance of the store.
During the 1930s, Boudreaux got special permission so he could use the parking space in the front of his store to offer ‘curb service” to his customers. Customers could just drive up where they were met by an employee (carhop), place an order and wait for it to be delivered right to the car. Some Opelousas old timers often talked about going to dances in Opelousas during those days and leaving at 11PM or midnight, parking on Court Street outside the New Drug Store, ordering beverages from the carhop and hanging out until the wee hours of the morning.
On May 29, 1941, A. J. “Doc” Boudreaux sold his New Drug Store company and building to L. L. McCarthy of Assumption, Ill. The McCarthy family moved from Illinois to Opelousas at that time. McCarthy, a registered pharmacist, said in an interview in the local paper he and his family were happy to be in Opelousas as they wanted to move south for years. The New Drug Store, now with a different owner, continued to operate on Court Street.
In later years, L. L. McCarthy’s son William “Bill” McCarthy took over operation of the New Drug Store.
In 1967 a new building was constructed on Creswell Lane in Park Vista as a second location for the New Drug Store (Rexall Drug Store). The New Drug Store continued business operations from both locations for several years until about the middle of the 1990s when the old Court Street location was closed. The building was vacated at that time.
In 1989, the New Drug Store building was included as a contributing element to the Opelousas National Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places that year.
In 1994,1995, and again in 2008 the New Drug Store building received façade grants from Main Street Opelousas and Louisiana Main Street, used to help with renovations that were done on the building during those years.
Today, although still important to the local landscape, the old A. L. Lacombe – New Drug Store Building remains vacant on Court Street in downtown Opelousas.
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Check out last month’s Sorry State of Estates article at https://www.stlandrynow.com/business-news/the-sorry-state-of-estates-dardeau-building/
Watch for another look at the Sorry State of Estates in Opelousas in our September article.
-Concerned Citizens for a BETTER OPELOUSAS-
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