The drug business located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from which Eugene A. Rau has recently retired, is one of the oldest establishments in the State. The record of this business dates to 1743, when John Frederick Otto, a physician, came from Saxe-Meiningen, Germany, and in 1745 he opened the first apothecary establishment in Bethlehem, which was under the control of the Moravian church. The location of the store was in the old Moravian Bell House until 1752, then the business was moved to a new stone building on Main street, next to the Moravian church, where it remained until 1845. In that year a new drug store was erected by Simon Rau, on a site directly north of the old stone building. In 1863, the stone building and the adjoining store, built by Simon Rau, were razed to make room for a residence and store, respectively, as shown by the way they stand in the present day. Thus it can be truthfully stated that the original apothecary of Bethlehem has been in the same location since 1752. Dr. Otto first conducted the business from 1745 to 1764; his brother. Dr. John Matthew Otto, from 1764 to 1786; from 1786 to 1790, Dr. Timothy Horsfield; from 1790 to 1889, Dr. Eberhart Freytag, and it was in 1796 that Dr. Freytag purchased the drug store, stock and buildings from the Moravian church; and in April, 1839, Simon Rau, who had been assistant for nine years, became owner of the business by purchase. For a number of years, Simon Rau conducted the business alone before any other drug stores existed in Bethlehem, and he won the confidence of his townsmen and the surrounding country to a remarkable degree.

In 1865, Eugene A. Rau, the last of the name to retain his connection with the business, and son of Simon Rau, entered the store, but not until 1870 was he admitted to a partnership. David Rau died in 1879, and ten years later, in 1889, Simon Rau retired. Robert and Eugene A. Rau, cousins, continued the business, and after the death of Robert Rau, in 1906, Eugene A. Rau continued the business with Charles N. Lochman, until April 1, 1913, when Eugene A. Rau retired from the firm, and his stock interest was purchased by Frank P. Miller, the old name being retained, a name it has borne since 1866, a period of fifty-three years. Robert Rau, Eugene A. Rau, Charles N. Lochman and Frank P. Miller are all graduates of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and all worked as clerks in the store prior to becoming partners. They were not only skilled pharmacists, but were also good businessmen, and the store has always enjoyed a very high reputation. The Rau interest is now extinguished after a period of eighty-three years. Simon Rau entered as a clerk in 1830, as proprietor in 1839. David and Robert Rau became partners in 1860. Eugene A. Rau became a partner in 1870, and the last of the name continued in the firm until April 1, 1913.

Such, in brief, is the history of the oldest drug business in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and one in which most of the life story of Eugene A. Rau is interwoven. Under the old regime many preparations were made and sold in the store, which the busy pharmacist of today buys direct from the wholesaler or manufacturer, and many other changes could be noted, for the modern drug store is a very different institution from the drug store of twenty-five years ago. The business is a monument to Simon Rau, his son, brother and nephew, and in all Pennsylvania it is not likely that there exists a business with such an interesting family attached thereto.