Corinth, Mississippi · Founded 1865
A family-run Corinth drugstore and soda fountain founded in 1865, known for local history displays and slugburgers.
Andrew Jackson "Jack" Borroum established Borroum's Drug Store in Corinth in 1865 after serving as an assistant surgeon during the Civil War. The business remains family-owned, combining pharmacy service, a soda fountain and lunch counter, and displays of local, family, Civil War, and Native American artifacts. It now operates at 604 E. Waldron Street on Corinth's courthouse square.
Physician Andrew Jackson "Jack" Borroum establishes a wholesale and retail drugstore in Corinth after his Civil War service.
Source: Mississippi Encyclopedia, "Borroum's Drug Store"; Borroum's Drug Store & Soda Fountain history page
According to Mississippi Encyclopedia, Borroum's moves to its present location on Waldron Street in Corinth.
Source: Mississippi Encyclopedia, "Borroum's Drug Store"
Borroum's marks its 150th year in business.
Source: Southern Foodways Alliance, "Camille Borroum-Mitchell"
Southern Foodways Alliance documents Camille Borroum Mitchell's ownership and operation of the store with assistance from her son Lex and daughter-in-law Debbie.
Source: Southern Foodways Alliance, "Camille Borroum-Mitchell"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Mississippi tourism and food-history sources consistently identify Borroum's as the state's oldest continuously operating drugstore or pharmacy. Its 1865 founding and long Borroum-family stewardship are well supported, but this pass did not independently compare all older Mississippi pharmacy businesses and license records.
Borroum's is a notable Corinth seller of slugburgers, but the business's own history attributes one early version of the food to Mrs. Weeks and describes its development during the Great Depression. The restaurant is part of the slugburger tradition, not the documented inventor.
Mississippi Encyclopedia identifies Andrew Jackson Borroum as a physician who served as an assistant surgeon in Company C of the 34th Mississippi Infantry. His wartime biography explains the Civil War connection, but it does not establish that the present store building dates to 1865.
Borroum's own website makes this national claim, but the sources reviewed here do not provide an independent nationwide comparison of continuously family-operated drugstores. Its Mississippi distinction is much better supported than the national claim.
Borroum's current building was built in 1865 or occupied by the drugstore from 1890.
Borroum's began in 1865 at an earlier location. Mississippi Encyclopedia says it moved to its present Waldron Street location in 1916, while the business website describes the present building as an older former tannery. The move date and construction history need primary-record verification.
Source: Mississippi Encyclopedia, "Borroum's Drug Store"; Borroum's Drug Store & Soda Fountain history page
The slugburger was invented at Borroum's Drug Store.
Borroum's is a major Corinth slugburger seller, but its own history credits Mrs. Weeks with creating one of the early versions during the Great Depression.
Source: Borroum's Drug Store & Soda Fountain history page
Borroum's is proven to be the oldest family-operated drugstore in the United States.
The business makes that national claim, but this review found no independent nationwide comparative evidence sufficient to verify it.
Source: Borroum's Drug Store & Soda Fountain history page
Borroum's survived by expanding the role of a small-town drugstore beyond prescriptions. Its descendants made the soda fountain, slugburgers, historic fixtures, and collections part of a living local-history destination while maintaining family control of the business. The result is a place that functions both as a working community shop and as an interpretive stop in downtown Corinth.
Borroum's Drug Store was founded in Corinth, Mississippi, in 1865 by physician Andrew Jackson "Jack" Borroum after his Civil War service. The family business developed into a pharmacy, soda fountain, lunch counter, and local-history destination, and it remains owned and operated by Borroum descendants. The current store is at 604 E. Waldron Street, although sources conflict on when the business moved there.
Borroum's is widely identified by Mississippi tourism and food-history sources as the state's oldest continuously operating drugstore or pharmacy. The store was founded in 1865 and remains in Borroum-family ownership, but a definitive statewide title would require a completed comparison with all older Mississippi pharmacy businesses and licensing records.
Camille Borroum Mitchell, great-granddaughter of founder Andrew Jackson Borroum, has been identified as the owner and operator of Borroum's Drug Store. Southern Foodways Alliance reported that her son Lex and daughter-in-law Debbie assist with pharmacy and lunch-counter operations.
604 E Waldron St, Corinth, MS 38834
(662) 286-3361
Current posted hours are generally 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Monday through Saturday; confirm pharmacy and lunch-counter service before visiting.