Blue Miller of the well-researched Never Quite Lost blog recently wrote about Charley Diaz, longtime operator of the Charley’s Automotive Service, aka Charley’s Radiator Shop, in Grants, New Mexico.
The long-closed complex of five buildings included a restaurant, Star Cafe, at 1308-1310 W. Santa Fe Ave. (aka Route 66). It was designated to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Miller’s deep dive into Diaz’s history uncovered these snippets about him and his shop:
- Diaz’s real first name was Carlos, though he signed it as “Charlie” on his draft card during World War II. A more recent photo of the shop, however, shows it being called “Charlie’s.”
- Diaz’s grandfather, Joseph Capelli, a stonemason who came to the U.S. from Italy during the early 20th century, constructed a garage and house out of locally sourced pumice, a lighter and more durable material.
- Diaz’s great uncle, Salome Saiz, built the Star Cafe in 1949. The restaurant later became the Star Drive-In under another operator until it closed in 1985.
- Diaz converted his shop into a radiator-service business in the mid-1950s, and Charley’s became known as the only such shop between Albuquerque and Gallup.
- Diaz kept working until his death in 1995 at age 80.
Miller found this great story about Diaz recounted by John Murphey of the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program:
One winter’s night a man knocked on the garage door. He said that his car had broken down and he had no money for repairs, but would work off the debt. Charley told him he didn’t need any help but told him to get a sandwich and then sleep in the garage overnight and they’d talk about a job in the morning. Joe was horrified – he thought the stranger would rob them blind and steal all their tools. But his father was adamant that the man could sleep on the premises. The next day he tried the man out. Joe Bounds would work for him for the next 33 years.
An article from 2010 indicated local officials had nominated Charley’s Radiator Shop to the National Register at the time.
The now-defunct Cibola County Beacon newspaper reported the building’s owner, Joseph Diaz, was seeking help at the time from a number of agencies, including the Corridor Preservation Program, to restore and revitalize the building.
Apparently little came of those efforts, as the building still remains moribund.
(Images by New Mexico Historic Preservation Division via Facebook)