The gross Drug Company was established at this site in 1912 by a nurse, Mrs. Mary M. Gross. Mrs. Gross operated the store with Mrs. J. B. Wood, a state registered nurse. The store carried a line of patent drugs, stationery, school supplies, and periodicals.

Mary Gross was born in Ohio, about 18 became a nurse and moved to California in the early 1900’s, arriving in Allensworth in 1911 or 1912. she delivered babies and treated ailments for many people in the town. Nan Archer recalls, “She was a good nurse. Everybody went to her when they were sick”.

A humorous incident occurred when the barber, Frank Milner, was bitten by a spider. Henry Singleton related, “one time a black widow bit Frank Milner in a very special place and Mrs. Gross had to take care of it. When the guys got through with Frank, he almost had to leave town”. Though she was respected and her medical services were sought after in town, Mary Gross seems to have been a solitary figure. No one person interviewed to date had ever been inside her living quarters. Neither could they remember anyone who had mentioned visiting in her home.

William Scott, a friend of Mrs. Gross, seems to have been the one person she associated with regularly and “no one ever knew their relationship”. The Allensworth informants believed Mary Gross was a widow and she may have been. However, in William Scott’s probate records, Mrs. Ada Gross is named as his heir. A list of Mrs. Ada Gross’ children includes a Mary Gross who appears either never to have been married or to have taken her maiden name back at some point. Mary Gross died on November 2, 1918 at the age of 52 of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was buried in the Allensworth Cemetery on November 5, 1918.

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