Pioneer Drug

Pioneer Drug:  A Newman Institution Since the 19th Century

The history of a hometown pharmacy, its owners, and the downtown buildings that became part of its story

For generations of Newman residents, Pioneer Drug Store has been more than a place to fill a prescription. It has been a familiar downtown business, a source of medical advice, and a reminder of the personal relationships that once defined the neighborhood drugstore. Its history reaches back to the late nineteenth century, when Newman was a young agricultural community developing along California's West Side.

The story of Pioneer Drug is closely associated with the Parker family, the Armistead Building on Main Street, A. M. Pecka, and Ernest “Ernie” Prien, a Newman native whose boyhood job at the pharmacy eventually led him to become its owner. Over the years, the business changed locations and ownership, but it retained its identity as one of the community's longstanding commercial institutions.

The beginnings: Leland Parker and the early drugstore

The roots of Pioneer Drug can be traced to the 1890s. According to a historical marker on the former Armistead Building, Dr. Armistead and pharmacist Leland Parker had practiced in the nearby community of Hills Ferry before the late 1890s. In 1897, Dr. Armistead constructed a two-story brick building in Newman, with his medical office upstairs and Parker's Rexall drugstore occupying the street-level space.

The arrangement brought two essential services together under one roof: a physician's office and a pharmacy. In a developing agricultural town, where residents often relied on local businesses for everyday necessities, such an establishment served an important role.

The Armistead Building became an enduring part of the story. Its location on Main Street placed the pharmacy within the heart of Newman's business district, where merchants served farmers, ranchers, railroad customers, and townspeople.

A. M.  Pecka : Assumes ownership in 1936

The widow of Leland Parker (Opal Parker) sold the store shortly after her husband's death in 1935 to Kern County businessman and former drugist, A. M. Peka in July of 1936.

Ernest “Ernie” Prien: From bicycle delivery boy to owner

One of the most important figures in Pioneer Drug's history was Ernest “Ernie” Prien, born in Newman on September 6, 1913. His association with the pharmacy began in 1927, when he was still a schoolboy.

Clarence Parker introduced the young Prien to the drugstore business. He began working at Pioneer Rexall Drug Store, delivering prescriptions to customers by bicycle. What started as a part-time job became the beginning of a lifelong career in pharmacy.

Ernest "Ernie" Prien

Prien graduated from Orestimba Union High School in 1931 and went on to study at the University of California's School of Pharmacy in San Francisco. A relative lent him $200 to help finance his education, and he graduated in 1934.

After working for approximately a year at a pharmacy in Oakland, Prien returned to Newman in 1935 to work at Pioneer Rexall Drug Store as a qualified pharmacist. He had come back to the same business where he had once delivered medicine to local residents.

In 1941, Prien purchased the pharmacy from A. M. Peka. The boy who had started out making bicycle deliveries was now responsible for the business itself. His ownership marked a particularly memorable chapter in Pioneer Drug's history, linking the establishment's early years with the ambitions of a young Newman businessman.

Ernest "Ernie" Prien

The Armistead Building: Pioneer Drug's longtime home

The historic Armistead Building on Main Street, associated with the early development of Newman's pharmacy business.

The Armistead Building is one of the most important landmarks associated with Pioneer Drug.

Constructed in 1897 by Dr. Armistead, the two-story brick building housed a medical office on its upper floor and a drugstore on the ground floor. Leland Parker established the Rexall drugstore there, and the building subsequently became home to Pioneer Drug.

This arrangement reflected an earlier model of community healthcare, in which a physician and pharmacist could work in close proximity. Residents could visit the doctor upstairs and obtain prescribed medicines downstairs.

The building's location near the intersection of Main and Merced streets placed it in a central position within Newman's commercial district. The pharmacy remained associated with this address until Ernie Prien moved the business in 1951.

Today, the historic structure provides a tangible connection to the early years of local pharmacy and medicine. Its story is preserved through a historical marker erected by the Rotary Club of Newman.

1951: The move to St. Clair Corner

St. Clair Corner, at the intersection of Main and Merced streets, where Pioneer Drug relocated in 1951.

On August 17, 1951, Prien purchased the building at the corner of Main and Merced streets and relocated Pioneer Drug from the Armistead Building. The site became closely associated with the name “St. Clair Corner,” and Prien's plans for the location helped establish the idea of “Rexall Corner.”

The building had its own history before becoming home to the pharmacy. Charles St. Clair originally constructed a wooden building there for a hardware business in the early 1900s. In 1931, he replaced it with a brick structure and built a separate chalk-rock building behind it for storing flammable materials.

The relocation was a significant milestone. Pioneer Drug was not merely changing its street address; it was moving into another established downtown property, reinforcing its presence at a prominent commercial intersection.

For customers, the pharmacy's identity remained familiar even as its surroundings changed. The move also created a lasting association between the business, Ernie Prien, and one of Newman's recognizable downtown corners.

1958: A change in ownership

Prien's ambitions eventually extended beyond operating a retail pharmacy.

In 1948, he and two partners had established a wholesale pharmaceutical business to supply drugstores throughout the San Joaquin Valley. The venture expanded, and a branch office opened in San Bernardino in 1957 to serve Southern California.

As the wholesale operation grew, Prien's work increasingly took him away from Newman. In 1958, he sold Pioneer Drug, ending his direct ownership of the pharmacy he had purchased seventeen years earlier. At the time of the sale, the business was operating at St. Clair Corner.

Prien went on to build a substantial pharmaceutical distribution business, which eventually operated nine branches in California and Washington. His later business career and philanthropic contributions extended far beyond his original hometown.

Nevertheless, Pioneer Drug remained an important part of his personal story. It was the place where he discovered his profession, received his early training, and gained the experience that helped shape his future.

He died on September 1, 2013, just five days before his 100th birthday. His life remains a notable example of a Newman resident whose success grew out of an opportunity provided by a local business.

Later ownership and the pharmacy's continuing history

The 1958 sale began a new chapter for Pioneer Drug. The pharmacy continued to operate under subsequent ownership, retaining its established name and role in the community.

One important milestone in its later history was the establishment of Newman Pioneer Drug, Inc., which California business records list as incorporated on September 18, 1968. The company's current registered business address is 1261 Main Street in Newman. The incorporation date establishes a corporate milestone, although it does not, by itself, identify every intervening owner or prove the exact date the business moved to its present address.

Today, Pioneer Drug continues to operate as an independent community pharmacy at 1261 Main Street. Its services include prescription dispensing, medication counseling, immunizations, and other pharmacy services. The business also serves customers in neighboring communities through its wider local operation.

The pharmacy's present-day emphasis on personalized service reflects a tradition that has long been associated with independent drugstores: knowing customers, understanding their needs, and maintaining relationships that extend beyond individual transactions.

Pioneer Drug's locations through the years

The known locations and milestones help illustrate the pharmacy's evolution.

1. Armistead Building — Main Street

Late 1890s–1951

The original documented downtown home of the Rexall drugstore established by Leland Parker in Dr. Armistead's 1897 building. The building later became associated with Pioneer Drug.

2. St. Clair Corner — Main and Merced streets

1951 onward

Ernie Prien purchased this property on August 17, 1951, and relocated Pioneer Drug from the Armistead Building. He sold the pharmacy in 1958 while it was operating at this location.

3. 1261 Main Street

Present-day location

Pioneer Drug currently operates at this address as Newman Pioneer Drug, Inc. The exact date of the move from St. Clair Corner to the present location remains to be confirmed from additional records but from newspaper accounts it appears to be 1985.

Historical dates and addresses are based on the Newman Historical Society account, historical-marker records, and current pharmacy and business listings.

A lasting place in Newman's history

The history of Pioneer Drug is also the history of a changing town. It began in the era when Newman's commercial district was taking shape, operated for decades in historic downtown buildings, and developed through the work of pharmacists and business owners who served the local population.

Leland Parker's early Rexall drugstore established the pharmacy's connection to the Armistead Building. Ernie Prien carried that tradition forward, first as a teenage delivery boy, then as a trained pharmacist, and finally as the owner who moved the business to St. Clair Corner. His 1958 sale marked the end of his personal ownership, but not the end of the pharmacy's place in Newman.

Pioneer Drug's continued operation at 1261 Main Street represents a connection between the community's early commercial history and its present-day healthcare needs.

For Newman residents, that continuity is what makes Pioneer Drug significant. The storefront and ownership have changed over the decades, but the underlying purpose remains familiar: providing local people with access to medicines, professional guidance, and the personal service of a neighborhood pharmacy.

Historical sources and further research

• Newman Historical Society — Ernest “Ernie” Prien: The Newman Boy Who Made Pioneer Drug His Life’s Work

• Armistead Building historical marker — early Rexall drugstore and building history.

• St. Clair Corner historical marker — the 1951 relocation and history of the property.

• Pioneer Drug official website — current pharmacy information.

• Newman Pioneer Drug, Inc. business listing — corporate filing information.

Editorial note: The major ownership and location milestones are documented, but a complete succession of owners between 1958 and the present, along with the precise date of the move to 1261 Main Street, requires further verification through historical issues of the West Side Index, city directories, and business records.