Founded in 1838 by physician Dr. Galen Hunter, C.O. Bigelow was originally named The Village Apothecary Shoppe. The pharmacy and business passed from Dr. Hunter to a number of employees before been purchased by Clarence Otis Bigelow in 1880, whose name continues the legacy of the business.

1939 saw the ownership of the current family by William B. Ginsberg, an immigrant from Eastern Europe who studied by candlelight to become a pharmacist. Subsequent generations have passed the baton, from Jerry Ginsberg to Ian Ginsberg to William Ginsberg, father to son to grandson to great-grandson. Each generation achieving the requisite pharmaceutical qualifications.

Throughout the centuries and decades C.O. Bigelow has dispensed its products to notable West Village residents and visitors including Eleanor Roosevelt, hosted customers at the soda fountain and lunch counter from 1920 - 1984, and formulated products discovered in the archives.

"Part of our unique legacy has been the passing of ownership from employer to employee. Clarence Otis Bigelow, who worked alongside Dr. Hunter for years, purchased the store and renamed it C.O. Bigelow."