Acoma Curio Shop

Then in 1937 Fidel reopened the original store as the Acoma Curio Shop, a short lived business in a building that still attracts the attention of Route 66 travelers decades later. In the curio shop he both retailed and wholesaled local Native American pottery and crafts here which were exclusively the works of Acoma Pueblo artists. Dealing with the artisans of only one Pueblo was unusual, most such shops dealt with multiple Pueblos as well as selling items from non-Indian sources. It wasn't uncommon for Fidel to pay the artisans for the works in groceries or other goods from his mercantile instead of cash.

Fidel's Acoma Curio Shop business didn't last long, apparently closing after only a few years. It may have been sold to E. Seligman, an experienced Indian goods trader who advertised that "The new location of the Acoma Curio Shop" was in Albuquerque in October of 1940. After the curio shop in San Fidel closed Fidel focused on his general mercantile business, which he relocated to a larger complex on the west end of town at some point in time.

After WWII he leased the little Curio Shop building and the land it sits on to the Standard Oil Company which used it as a gas station for several years. A later owner built a small motel building behind the shop. It 2009 the shop was operating as Gallery 66.

These photos, taken in 2015, show that the building had held up remarkably well for nearly a century. The building with it's 18 inch thick adobe walls, tin roof andmining town style false front was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

The Fidel Store and home on the west end of town.

Photo(s): 2015