Bedrock Store

by Bob and Nancy Kendrick

Title

Bedrock Store

Artist

Bob and Nancy Kendrick

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

We took a little drive over the La Sal mountains from Moab, Utah, into Colorado. We found a beautiful area called the Paradox Valley. It is a long lovely valley between 2 ridges, and extends southeast down to Naturita, Colorado. In the valley are just a few little towns - Paradox and Bedrock. And in Bedrock is the (now closed) Bedrock Store, consisting of a convenience store, gas station, liquor store and upstairs apartment.

Constructed in 1882, the Bedrock Store played an important role in the commercial history of the Paradox Valley. In the 1800s, it served the local ranching community as a general merchandise store and U.S. Post Office. As the only store within thirty miles, during the 1900s it also served those associated with local mining. The first floor walls are of uncoursed native stone, and the upper floor is faced with wood. A somewhat elaborate peaked cornice tops the facade.

Rafters, bicyclists, 4-wheelers and Las Vegas-bound tourists have been stopping in at the Bedrock Store on remote Highway 90 for ice-cream sandwiches, beer and gas for decades. But for the time being, they are going to find the 130-year-old establishment shuttered. Owner Rose Griffin decided to close this landmark on Highway 90 in the Dolores River Valley while she dealt with some health problems. She has had the store on the market for several years. If anyone is interested, the building, encompassing the store on the first floor, apartment on the 2nd floor, and 1.9 acres is for sale for $385,000 (as of Nov 2012).

The store that is listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Places and that Rose calls �the oldest, longest running business in Colorado,� is well-known in Western Colorado for its plank floors, potbellied stove and native-rock walls along with its small array of grocieries lined up in antique glass cases and tidy wall shelves. Like any good western outpost, Bedrock also stocks fishing worms and t-shirts.

The store is so picturesque, commercials have been filmed here and Thelma and Louise made a stop at the store in the 1991 movie about two women on the lam in the West.

Although the area was inhabited in 1881, the town of Bedrock, Colorado, was not established until 1883. Now just a sleepy town along side the road in Paradox Valley. The Bedrock Post Office opened on November 8, 1883. The post office is still going strong. Rumor has it that the town's general store and post office were originally built on solid rock, hence the name. The town once had 500 people, two saloons and two hotels.

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November 28th, 2012

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