The Roots of Soderlund Village Drug

Soderlund Village Drug can trace its roots back over 110 years in the historic Saint Peter community. The pharmacy has had many owners and various names over the years but one thing has remained constant… the drugstore and the community are part of each other.

Soderlund Village Drug actually began with the immigration of the Soderlund family to America back in 1892. Upon arriving in America from Sweden the Soderlunds settled in Minneapolis. The oldest daughter of the family, Lina Soderlund found a job as an apprentice pharmacist. She started working in a Finnish pharmacy in downtown Minneapolis around 1899.

Back in that era the pharmacy profession was not taught in college but rather by a period of apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship a person would then be considered a druggist since they had learned the art of compounding.

Compounding Pharmacist Lina Soderlund circa 1915

Lina Soderlund Became a Pharmacist
While working as a pharmacist, Lina Söderlund would compound various medications from herbs, plants and even insects for her patients. Back then some insects like Spanish Flies, Cochineal and Chinese Blistering Beetles were used for medical purposes. Over the years Lina became a very accomplished compounding pharmacist.

My father, Bill Soderlund, Sr., would visit his aunt Lina at the pharmacy. The sweet aroma and the scientific atmosphere of the pharmacy instilled in him a desire to follow in her footsteps and some day become a pharmacist.