Rolland Carvel “R.C.” Hoskins was 25 years old when he opened Hoskins Drug Store #1 here in 1930, the first of 13 stores in East Tennessee. The building, built in 1926, was known as “The Ross” or “The Flat” and had been home to Stansberry Drug Store for four years. The store is notable for its Tennessee marble floors, intricate woodwork, original tin ceiling & light fixtures, and hand carved mortar and pestle details atop the rear railing. The same mortar and pestle design adorns the Hoskins home just up the street on Eagle Bend. Fixtures inside the drug store were all locally made. The original neon sign still burns bright, welcoming visitors into the store. The lawn area to the right of the building was the site of the Ross House, and the iron fence here remains from that structure.