The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum

Posted: 05.27.2025 | Updated: 05.27.2025

There’s a sense of eeriness to walking into a room that hasn’t been touched for decades; it’s as if time itself stood still. The memories of the past leave a haunting echo in the suspended silence. But they sound too real, making one wonder if it’s all imagination or if something else is there with us. 

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum seems to have had the same effect on staff and visitors all these years. Once a place of healing for the people of Alexandria, Virginia, it now sits carefully preserved, along with the spirits that remain inside. 

Read on and see why this ancient apothecary is said to be one of Alexandria’s most haunted locations. Visit our site today, and book a ghost tour with Alexandria Ghosts for a more first-person experience with the ghosts that dwell in the city’s shadows! The chilling tales don’t stop in Alexandria. Check out our blog and delve into the casket of endless haunting stories that hovers on America’s horizon. 

Is the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum Haunted?

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum is a pill bottle of itself. Once a thriving pharmacy for the city of Alexandria, it has become a silent, frozen scene, containing the past and its ghosts that linger within. 

History of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum

Before pharmacies, there were apothecaries, where your pharmacist was often your doctor; you come in, describe your symptoms, and they recommend and sell what medicine you should take. 

This was Edward Stabler’s world when he and his brother set up their own apothecary in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1792; he moved it to its present-day location at 107 S. Fairfax St. — a three-story brick building — in 1805.

The business changed hands when Edward’s son, William, died in 1852. William’s brother-in-law, John Leadbeater, purchased the business from his widow, considering they had no children. 

The business reached its height in 1865, supplying 500 pharmacies throughout the Washington D.C. area, employing 12 salesmen across three states, and operating in several buildings throughout Alexandria.

Times changed, however. New regulations and competition from chain drug stores caused the business to fall into bankruptcy in 1916. There was some hope as it reorganized, but it proved to be false. With the Great Depression and the death of its final owner, Edward Stabler Leadbeater, Jr., the then-141-year-old business went up for auction on July 19, 1933.

A group of concerned local citizens, along with the American Pharmaceutical Association, came up with a plan. L. Manual Hedler, a Baltimore ice cream merchant, purchased the contents and archives. A year later, the newly formed Landmarks Society of Alexandria purchased the buildings at auction. Hendler then donated the contents and archives to the organization.

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum opened to the public in 1939 and was later donated to the city of Alexandria in 2006. Today, it holds a collection of priceless relics from the past, including its original medicines and an archival collection of letters, invoices, account books, and ledgers that contain some of history’s most famous figures, such as Martha Washington and Nelly Custis. 

Museum Hauntings 

Just walking through the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum feels like a moment frozen in time; its original shelves and drawers are stocked with original bottles of medicine, herbs, and remedies. There’s an overall feeling that lingers in this antiquated apothecary, as though something else has stayed behind— a feeling as though they’re being watched. 

The most frequently reported experiences have been after hours. Staff have reported hearing the subtle sounds of footsteps creaking across the wooden floorboards. Others have heard the rustle of clothing, as though someone was passing by in a hurry. They’ll turn around only to find no one is there. 

Staff and visitors have also reported seeing objects move on their own — more specifically, small bottles either shifting on shelves, or being found in different locations than their original. On one occasion, a small glass bottle was seen moving delicately back and forth on the shelf it sat on, despite there being no wind or disturbance in the room. 

Something else has been seen near the back rooms or by the stairs, where the original owners would have mixed potions or stored rare herbs: lingering shadow figures. Those who have seen them describe seeing a shadowy figure standing in the corner of a room. It’ll only disappear when they try to get a closer look. 

A pharmacist lost in time

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum has also had its fair share of full-bodied apparitions. A visitor claimed to have seen what looked like a man dressed in a dark coat, standing by the counter, immersed in examining a bottle. The visitor approached, followed by the strange figure disappearing into thin air.

It’s unknown who this strange phantom, or any other ghostly apparitions in the museum might be. They definitely seem like they don’t know business closed up, let alone that they’re dead.

Maybe something traumatic happened at this age-old apothecary that we just don’t know about. After all, the business was open for over 100 years before shutting its doors. 

It’s also been theorized that a simple routine in life can leave a residual energy that plays out like a tape recording: a residual haunting, as it’s called. Add to that the fact that not much of the interior has changed since its final days, and you have the perfect textbook example. 

Haunted Alexandria

There’s an air of mystery that surrounds the very name, “Virginia,” starting from its very founding with the lost colony of Roanoke. Practically the Transylvania of the United States, its rolling hillsides captivate the eye while drawing the ear closer. 

At first, it’s the rich history of times passed. Lean in a little closer, and you’ll hear something else: chilling ghost tales, urban legends, and cryptids, some of which don’t always lie off the beaten path. 

They hide among us at places like 105-7 S. Fairfax St. in the City of Alexandria, home of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum. A simple three-floor brick building, its rooms, a snapshot into the past. Perhaps too perfect a snapshot, as the ghosts of the past carry on business as usual. 

You’ve only taken a look through the keyhole of Virginia’s haunted past. Open the door and venture through if you dare with Alexandria Ghosts! Walk through the shadows of Alexandria, Virginia, past its most historic sites and hear the spine-gripping tales that lurk within. Be sure to also check out our blog for more spine-tingling tales across America, and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Sources:

• https://www.alexandriava.gov/Apothecary#:~:text=The%20Stabler%2DLeadbeater%20Apothecary%20Museum,retailing%2C%20wholesaling%2C%20and%20manufacturing.
• https://www.alexandriava.gov/museums/history-of-the-apothecary-museum
• https://encyclopediastrange.com/2024/10/14/the-ghosts-of-stabler-leadbeater-apothecary/