On May 10, 1876, a 37-year-old Civil War veteran opened a small laboratory in a brick building at 15 W. Pearl St. to manufacture medicine. His 14-year-old son quit school to help him run the business, which they founded with only $1,400 in capital. The sign over the door simply read, “Eli Lilly, Chemist”.
Undoubtedly one of the best business decisions ever made in the city of Indianapolis. The rest is pharmaceutical history.