A landmark business for many decades in downtown Durango, Parsons Drug was located at the southeast corner of Ninth Street and Main Avenue. It was the quintessential 20th century drug store with a soda fountain, lunch counter and café located in the rear of the business. From the 1930s through the 1970s, high school students congregated there to socialize and enjoy the fountain offerings. For many years, an informal downtown businessman’s club also gathered there over coffee. This corner location became a drugstore starting around 1900. The business was owned and operated by pharmacist Don Degani from 1962 until its closing in 1991. Degani, a lifelong resident of Durango, died in April at the age of 92. Today, Brown’s Sport Shoe occupies the spot. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Courtesy of La Plata County Historical Society)