In 1892, Dr. Warren Nugent, chief railroad surgeon with Iowa Central Railroad, built this richly detailed building to house the J.H. Pickett Drugstore. J.H. Pickett, a Civil War veteran, opened the first business there, and his long tenure made the location known as Pickett's Corner. Gale Stapp later continued the same tradition, operating a drug store on the corner from 1950 to 1989, which led to the building being known as Stapp's Building. Its seven oriel windows on the west side and the massive corner turret were uncommon on commercial structures and showed the original owner's effort to create a signature building. In 1988, a New York Times article featured Oskaloosa movers and shakers who met daily over coffee at Stapp's Drug to solve local and world problems.