OLDEST BUSINESS. John B. Michels purchased a half interest in the Charles A. Strathman Drug Store July 1, 1883, and later became the sole owner. In 1896 he purchased the Hoagland Building and moved his business into the east room of that location. He moved into the west room in 1919 and gave a twenty-five year lease on his east room to the First National Bank, which incorporated it into their bank remodeling, today the west half of the El Paso National Bank. When Mr. Michels died in 1935, his wife Sophie C. Michels continued to operate the business. Upon her death in 1946, it fell to Arnold and Josephine Michels, who today still operate the drug store. Thus, this firm has been in the hands of one family for seventy-one years, the oldest such business establishment in El Paso. As noted elsewhere, the oldest professional office in town is Dr. C. O. Patton's dental establishment.
Michel’s Drug Store about 1898, El Paso’s oldest family business.
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