Goolrick's
Pharmacy & Soda Fountain
Remembering the Good Times, Together
"Back in the 80s I asked permission to photograph the soda fountain to use as a set design for a play at a local community theatre. I think we succeeded in recreating Goolrick's. I felt it was an homage to a favorite place."
- Barbara C.
"Took my kids there over 30 years ago to have authentic Cherry Coke. My son now takes his kids for the egg salad sandwich and fountain made milkshakes. It is my grandsons', ages 10 and 13, favorite place downtown."
- Jan K.
"I loved Goolrick’s. When I was at MWC in the ‘60’s, I walked down there at least once a week to eat lunch. The food was a warm and comfy reminder of home."
- Adrienne W.
"I would get a chocolate malted and a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. You always got chips and a pickle. Love it!"
- Deborah O.
"Don’t forget the toasted cream cheese and olive sandwiches!! My fav! I worked in the former courthouse building and lunched at Goolrick’s weekly."
- Shirley M.
"Went there every Saturday growing up. Nothing like the ham/chicken sandwich and egg salad sandwich and fresh squeezed lemonade or chocolate shake."
- Marlene S.B.
"I remember having Saturday lunch at Goolrick’s with my grandmother, Mary Taylor. We would share an egg salad sandwich and a bottle of Coca-Cola with two paper straws! We lived in King George and would “go to town” on Saturdays for all of our shopping. It was always a special treat to spend time with Grandma (and Grandpa who would drive us to town) and enjoy lunch at Goolrick’s lunch counter."
- Dee S.
"I grew up in Goolrick’s! Egg salad sandwiches and root beer floats were family favorites. Spinning around on the swivel counter stools was my favorite thing to do!"
- Regina B.
"My favorite memory of Goolrick’s is when a previous owner would place a life-size nativity scene in the window every Christmas. It was always one of the highlights of the season. I enjoyed coming to Fredericksburg City just to see it."
- Judy P.
"I loved going to Goolrick’s with my father just as he had done with his grandfather in the 1930’s. He loved the cream cheese and olive sandwich on toasted white with a pickle and a chocolate soda. I always wanted a cherry coke. I cannot wait for you to reopen."
- Sandra D.
"When I was getting chemotherapy back in 2009, my friends Brian and Jenny would bring BLTs from Goolrick's and sit with me during my treatments. I will always get a BLT there because they make the best."
- Sharon M.
"While my daughter was in school, we traveled from northern Hartwood to Goolrick's every Saturday for an early lunch. My lunch was a tuna sandwich, and hers was an egg salad. This was our Saturday routine. I still made my trips after she moved away, and I even remember the phone number to call in to-go orders. Miss my Goolrick's!"
- Robyn T.
"Back in the 1990s, I took my granddaughter to Goolrick's for a milkshake. It was huge. Served in a large metal shaker style cup that you could pour into a smaller cup and drink to your leisure while the metal one kept the shake cold. I thought, 'she is so little, she won't be able to finish it all!' So I asked her to share with me, and she shook her head 'no' and proceeded to finish the whole thing! Their shakes are the bomb!"
- Denise D.
"My father went to Goolrick's as a child in the 1930's. He later took me there, too. He always got a cream cheese and olive sandwich with a chocolate soda. I always got a cream cheese and olive sandwich with a cherry Coke. Please keep the same menu! We love Goolrick's!"
- Sandra D.
"Always love photographing Goolrick's. I took this image earlier this summer during a heavy rain storm."
- Allen M.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Click on the image to enlarge.
"The painting of the civil war soldier on the door that is on the side of Goolrick's is actually my dad, Jimmy Morgan. He passed away about 2 and a half years ago. It was originally painted in the '80s. He did reenactments in Fredericksburg. I hope that when you open you will try to preserve the painting of my dad and the others that are along the side of the building. I have the original headshot painting that was given to him by the original artist. I have that image of him on your door tattooed on my forearm in memory of him. Thank you for letting me tell my story in hope of your help to preserve not only a personal history but a very small part of the history of Fredericksburg and Goolrick's as well. Thank you."
- Jason M.
"I was a pharmacist at Goolrick’s for 2 1/2 years before it closed. I really loved Ms. Leila’s grilled cheese with crispy bacon, chips and a pickle, of course. I’d add either a chocolate malt or a diet cherry coke. That was a great lunch at work!"
- Delya B.
"I use to go there as a kid with my great grandfather for a milkshake after we ate dinner at Anne’s Grille. We would come in and get an egg salad sandwich and a milkshake on any given Saturday when he was in town. We were sitting at the table on Flag day one year and he told me the flags were flying to celebrate him, he was born on flag day but I was too young to realize the difference, I will always cherish those memories! That was 45 years ago!"
- Jodi M.
"Living around historic downtown my entire life, I've always considered the area between Goolrick's and Hyperion to be the heart of Fredericksburg. I still remember walking downtown as a kid to see the crowd there in 1992 when George Bush senior visited there.
The neon sign of Goolrick's had always reminded me of 'home'."
- Intangur Photography
Click on the image to enlarge.
"When I was a child I remember coming to Goolrick's to get a toasted tuna sandwich and after we ate all our lunch we could get a delicious chocolate milkshake. They were the best in town and I can't wait till we can get one again. Thank you for restoring a large piece of Fredericksburg history."
- Pam S.
"My grandfather, Joseph Winfrey Smith, was a pharmacist there in the '20s and '30s for sure and maybe even some of the '40s."
- Jud W.
"Funny memory, a family member bought a milkshake and dropped it before getting to the table! Staff replaced it, but it was an embarrassing mess. Also got specialized creams for pain there."
- William B.
"When my daughter was 3 to 4 years old and attended FUMC preschool we would walk down to Goolrick's. She would get a grilled cheese sandwich and I would get an egg salad sandwich with bacon. We would split a chocolate milkshake. Now, 25 years later, I moved to Louisiana and back to Virginia where I came to visit Goolrick's to reminisce! Great and wonderful memories were made here!"
- Barbara W.
"In the '90s, we had a little store across from Goolrick's. When I helped out, I would get their egg salad sandwich, with chips and a Coke. The best in the Burg."
- Don M.
"I worked behind the pharmacy counter while I was in high school from 1973 to 1975. Charles Rector was the owner and head pharmacist then. I loved to get the sliced chicken sandwich for lunch, but it was very popular and sold out early in the day. Smoking was allowed while eating and one of my jobs was to wash the shelves behind the tables in the fountain area. I hated it because of the cigarette ashes!"
- Lynne S.
"When I was a child, over 70 years ago, my mom would take my sister, brother and me there for lunch. Because back then all your shopping was done downtown. I remember the toasted egg salad sandwich and soda fountain drink. Several years ago my granddaughter was visiting me and we went downtown and I retold her of me eating there. Back then to eat out was a big treat."
- Genevieve S.M.
"Not being a native, I stumbled in. It soon became my favorite place. I treated several people to anything they wanted. Miss this place."
- Sue M.
"When we had a store, I would always try to get an egg salad sandwich for lunch. Also when the Fredericksburg Rotary Club rang the Salvation Army bells at Christmas time, there was Goolrick's coffee or hot chocolate nearby."
- Don M.
"When I was a young girl my father owned an antique shop directly across the street. My favorite part of the day was being allowed to go across the street (by myself!) to sit at the Goolrick’s counter and have lunch. The shiny chrome edged counter and barstools beckoned as I would excitedly wait for my lunch of a BLT sandwich and fresh squeezed lemonade listening to the chatter of regulars and tourists who would come together to visit in a way that made our community special!"
- Kathy B.
"I have always lived here. I will be 80 in November. My mom would take us 3 children to Goolricks for a fountain coke and egg salad sandwich. That was a big treat when I was growing up. I can relate it to children going to Disney World. I will be glad when they open back up."
- Sissy Spencer Major
"My father, Wilson Johnson, Jr. was a pharmacist at Goolricks from about 1949 to around 1953. I think it was one of his first pharmacy jobs after returning from WW2 and completing pharmacy school. I was born here in Fredericksburg in September 1952 and we moved the next year to Norfolk. I remember hearing my sisters talk about the store. My wife and I moved 'back' to Fredericksburg in 2009 and we remain here."
- Wilson J.
"When I first saw this building, I fell in love with it! Loved it so much, I painted it! I am so glad to hear that it is being renovated!"
- Ashley D.
"One of my earliest memories is going to Goolrick's. [My mom] introduced me to a cherry soda and I was hooked. She explained that a cherry soda was akin to a milkshake but the ice cream was added to the soda. For the past 50 years, we have introduced all of our company to legit cherry sodas and I am excited that I have been able to share with my kids. Now I am drooling and impatiently waiting for my next one."
- Dawn S.
"My granddaughter used to accompany me to Goolrick's for lunch or a snack whenever she was in town. This was taken during the Christmas season, about 2004."
- Vicki H.
"I have been going to Goolricks for 25 years, egg salad sandwich and a shake every time!"
- Kathi B.
"One of the highlights of my childhood was when my grandfather would treat my sisters and I to a Cherry Smash at the counter. It was always served in a small paper cone. Best treat in town!"
- J.P.
"My family always loved coming to Goolrick's! It became a family tradition to come Friday after school and get a treat to start the weekend!"
- Michelle J.
"Back in the late 1960s, my cousin(Cecee Embrey) and I would go to town on Saturdays for shopping and always lunch at Goolrick’s. We would have our hair in curlers for going out Saturday night, with a scarf tied around our heads! At the time the tables were on the left side of the store, along with shelves of all kinds of over the counter medicines, first aid and topicals. As we waited for our delicious sandwiches, we would play a game we called, “ Find the Medicine”. One of us would locate a product on the self and give the other a certain number of seconds to locate it. It is one of our favorite memories of our young teenage years spending time in Goolrick’s. Can’t wait to have my favorite, Egg Salad with Tomato and Bacon… ❤️"
-Wendy J.