Route 66 - Charlie's Radiator Service - Grants NM
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Route 66 - Charlie's Radiator Service - Grants NM
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Charlie's Automotive Service is the only surviving building on the west end of Grants, New Mexico, that catered to the Route 66 automotive trade.
Charles Diaz built Charlie’s Radiator Service when he was 29 years old with the help of his grandfather, an Italian immigrant stonemason, using pumice block.
The Route 66 automotive service opened in 1943 with two gas pumps, a garage, and a body shop. Charlie sold Mobil gas, but so many services stations opened up on the west side of town competition was tough. Even though Charlie lost a considerable amount of property in front of his garage when the city widened Route 66 to four lanes, it didn’t affect his business since he had already removed his pumps deciding to specialize in radiator repair. Charlie ran the garage until he died of a heart attack in 1995.
Charlie’s great uncle built the Star Café next door to the garage in 1949. After Uranium was discovered and the mine opened, the café did a booming business selling prepacked lunches to the miner that used the nearby bus stop going to and from work. Around this same time, the café expanded into a drive-in that was opened 24-hours a day. After the café closed in 1985, it became a tire shop.
The Diaz family home was behind the garage and café. The five-building complex was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Copyright 2022 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
April 5th, 2022
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