Third phase completed to shore up Painted Desert Trading Post

The third phase to stabilize the remains of the long-closed Painted Desert Trading Post in eastern Arizona ended Tuesday after volunteers spent six days on the site.

Here’s what was accomplished during the nearly week-long project:

  • Dug out and removed shattered or deteriorating concrete stem walls;
  • Built interior walls and frames to support the exterior walls in preparation for a new concrete foundation;
  • Reframing windows and doors;
  • Installing new base plates;
  • Adding rebar to the new foundation area;
  • Installed wood forms for the concrete;
  • Poured a new concrete foundation;
  • Cleaned the stucco;
  • Re-created an original gas station pad in front of the trading post.

The big part of the job — repouring the foundation — took about 13 yards of cement, which amounts to two truckloads. The new foundation — plus a new roof installed during the last phase — should add many years to the trading post’s life span.

The volunteers got everything accomplished despite two days of incessant wind, including gusts up to 50 mph. Working in conditions like that is no fun.

The winds were so bad at one point, it shifted the braces and leaned the whole building. A skid steer pulled the building back into place as extra bracing was added. Now that the trading post has a new foundation, that will blunt the effects of Arizona’s winds.

More about the group’s labors may be seen on the Route 66 Painted Desert Trading Post page on Facebook or Frank Maloney’s collection of photos here.

Donations to help defray the Route 66 Co-op‘s stabilization of the Painted Desert Trading Post may be made through PayPal here. The cooperative purchased the property last year.

Also, longtime roadie David Wickline is selling metal signs, neon clocks and buttons that re-create the “Cold Drinks” logo on the side of the trading post. It will even ship the products to international customers. All proceeds will go to the Route 66 Co-op.

Dotch Windsor and his first wife, Alberta, opened the Painted Desert Trading Post along Route 66 during the early 1940s. Even along the Mother Road at the time, it was a remote outpost with no electricity or telephone service. Gravity pumps dispensed the fuel.

It closed by the late 1950s after being bypassed. The Painted Desert Trading Post, about a mile north of Interstate 40, remains inaccessible except for a locked gate. Those who wish to visit the trading post via Pinta Road can use these instructions to unlock the road’s main gate. More instructions about visiting the trading post may be found with this video.

(Image of the Painted Desert Trading Post in Arizona this week by Mark A. Norman via Facebook)

One thought on “Third phase completed to shore up Painted Desert Trading Post

  1. This is great. Two thumbs up for the people who got out there and invested their own blood and sweat.

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