Edward Stabler, a Quaker pharmacist, started a family apothecary business in 1792, one which operated continuously until it closed in 1933. In 1796 the business moved permanently to 107 South Fairfax Street, a building erected between 1774 and 1785. Among its customers were Martha Washington, Drs. James Craik and Elisha Cullen Dick, James Monroe, and Robert E. Lee. The brick building’s three-bay, three-story exterior is typical of the Alexandria’s Federal architecture. Its curved-window shopfront is a conjectural reconstruction by noted architect Thomas T. Waterman. The fanciful Gothic Revival shelves inside are a mid-19th-century alteration and are a stunning and rare example of the style’s use for a shop interior. Now a museum in the Alexandria Historic District, the apothecary’s collections include, in addition to furnishings and fixtures, archival material, pharmaceutical equipment, and herbs, all kept intact by the Stabler-Leadbeater firm.

In 2021 the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop was designated a National Historic Landmark.