Johnson's Drug Store/McGhee Block

This seven-storefront brick building was built in 1920 by African American contractors and cousins William M. McGhee and Albert B. McGhee. Known as the McGhee Block, it housed stores, dry cleaners, restaurants and the McGhee & McGhee company office. Both McGhees died in 1938. One of the first tenants was Johnson’s Drug Store. It was owned by African American physician Dr. Charles C. Johnson, a civic leader who came to Aiken around 1905. Johnson’s store sold medications, toiletries, stationary and other goods and included a soda fountain. The store employed black pharmacists and served both black and white customers. The pharmacy remained open after Johnson’s death in 1928 until 1940 when it relocated.