Wagner’s Pharmacy | 3113 Fourth St. | 502.375.3800
(This story originally appeared in the Spring 2023 print issue.)
Alive and Kickin’
After 101 years, Wagner’s is still Churchill Downs, and Churchill Downs is still Wagner’s.
Standing at the Fourth Street entrance to Wagner’s diner, a good horseshoe tosser could probably land one at Churchill Downs — it’s that close. Today, the historic business is led by Lee Wagner III, who’s learned a few things about walking the line between tradition and modernity.
Wagner’s Pharmacy is just feet from Churchill Downs.
The Wayback Machine points to 1922. Central Avenue is a neighborhood street, not the thoroughfare it will become some 75 years later. The suburban towns that sandwich Central, called South Louisville (or Southside) and Oakdale (aka Wyandotte), are populated by homes, stores and factories.
Churchill Downs, in its 47th year, is the predominant landmark (by a mile and a quarter), and the area is biracial — the Louisville...
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