C. R. Morris, First Registered Pharmacist
A little building on the corner of Sixth and Bliss held Morris Prescription Shop for many years. The business was run by C. R. Morris and his wife, Mary.
The business was opened in 1930 by Morris who was the first registered pharmacist in Dumas. At the time, the town had one doctor who also owned a small drug store.
The original Morris Prescription Shop was located at Sixth and Dumas Ave.
According to a story from the Moore County News-Press in July of 1968, the town experienced a business "boom" with the construction of the new county courthouse, the Santa Fe Railroad coming through Dumas and natural gas production in the area.
In the story, Mrs. Morris recalled, "Business was good, and this was one of the few places where it was." A soda fountain and patent medicines made up much of the drug store business.
"We stayed open until around midnight, when the electricity was cut off for the town. When there was a prescription to be filled after midnight, it was done by kerosene lamp light," recalled Mrs. Morris.
Merchandise delivery was limited. The Morrises made three trips to Amarillo by car each week for supplies. The couple also owned a drug store in Sunray for a few years in the late 1930's.
According to the News-Press story, "There were special highlights of their first year in Dumas. One was an armed robbery of the drug store late one night while it still held several customers. The robbers later were caught, tried in Moore County and sent to prison."
The store was later moved to the 700 block of Dumas Ave. In 1948, he sold his general merchandise drug store and opened the prescription shop on Bliss.
Morris grew up in Gage, Oklahoma, and began working in a drug store when he was in high school. He worked at the soda fountain and learned to grind herbs and drugs in crude form with an old mortar and pestle.
He attended pharmacy school at Des Moines, Iowa, and was first licensed in Kansas in 1920. His first license was burned in a drug store fire in Oklahoma and he took the Oklahoma state board examinations to receive another.
He and Mrs. Morris, who was an Oklahoma school teacher, were married in 1927.
The News-Press story tells of Morris's service during World War I where he served with the army medical corps. At one time he played in an army band which had John Phillip Sousa, the famed composer, as guest conductor.
His interest in music continued and he played the clarinet and sometimes the cornet in the Khiva Shrine band in Amarillo.
He served as commander of the first American Legion Post in Dumas. Mrs. Morris was an active Girl Scout Leader and was one of the founders of the 1932 Study Club.
The prescription shop was sold in 1968. Morris had spent 48 years in the drug store business.
The business was opened in 1930 by Morris who was the first registered pharmacist in Dumas. At the time, the town had one doctor who also owned a small drug store.
The original Morris Prescription Shop was located at Sixth and Dumas Ave.
According to a story from the Moore County News-Press in July of 1968, the town experienced a business "boom" with the construction of the new county courthouse, the Santa Fe Railroad coming through Dumas and natural gas production in the area.
In the story, Mrs. Morris recalled, "Business was good, and this was one of the few places where it was." A soda fountain and patent medicines made up much of the drug store business.
"We stayed open until around midnight, when the electricity was cut off for the town. When there was a prescription to be filled after midnight, it was done by kerosene lamp light," recalled Mrs. Morris.
Merchandise delivery was limited. The Morrises made three trips to Amarillo by car each week for supplies. The couple also owned a drug store in Sunray for a few years in the late 1930's.
According to the News-Press story, "There were special highlights of their first year in Dumas. One was an armed robbery of the drug store late one night while it still held several customers. The robbers later were caught, tried in Moore County and sent to prison."
The store was later moved to the 700 block of Dumas Ave. In 1948, he sold his general merchandise drug store and opened the prescription shop on Bliss.
Morris grew up in Gage, Oklahoma, and began working in a drug store when he was in high school. He worked at the soda fountain and learned to grind herbs and drugs in crude form with an old mortar and pestle.
He attended pharmacy school at Des Moines, Iowa, and was first licensed in Kansas in 1920. His first license was burned in a drug store fire in Oklahoma and he took the Oklahoma state board examinations to receive another.
He and Mrs. Morris, who was an Oklahoma school teacher, were married in 1927.
The News-Press story tells of Morris's service during World War I where he served with the army medical corps. At one time he played in an army band which had John Phillip Sousa, the famed composer, as guest conductor.
His interest in music continued and he played the clarinet and sometimes the cornet in the Khiva Shrine band in Amarillo.
He served as commander of the first American Legion Post in Dumas. Mrs. Morris was an active Girl Scout Leader and was one of the founders of the 1932 Study Club.
The prescription shop was sold in 1968. Morris had spent 48 years in the drug store business.