Dotch Windsor's Desert Trading Post

I had to re-edit the video since the audio was off.

Many call it the crown jewel of Route 66 relics. Vacant for six decades, it haunts a forgotten, decayed stretch of the Mother Road in the shadow of the Painted Desert, east of Holbrook, Arizona. The Painted Desert Trading Post was established in this harsh environment around 1940 by cattleman Dotch Garland Windsor, who saw opportunity in the number of tourists motoring daily past his small ranch. He sold rugs and jewelry (both likely Navajo-made), sundries, and Gulf Oil gasoline. Life there was good until 1958, when a bypass alignment of U.S. 66 opened where I-40 is today and traffic at the trading post dried up like a shut-off spigot. Thereafter, tumbleweeds and dust devils replaced the flow of Detroit steel, and Windsor soon moved to Holbrook, where he died in 1964 at age 68.

In 2018, with the trading post nearing collapse, word that the property was available found its way to Route 66 preservationist “Roamin’ Rich” Dinkela. Dinkela called this writer, and within 24 hours the two of them had recruited seven others from around the country to pony up and purchase the revered icon from its owner, a California dentist. Following an on-site assessment, the owners group formed the nonprofit Route 66 Co-Op, began raising funds, and acquired a grant from the National Park Service along with eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The rescue was on.

The goals were simple enough: stabilize the building and manage access for visitors. Executing the tasks needed to accomplish them was not as simple. The structure was seriously compromised, with a sagging, rotted roof and a crumbling foundation, both of which had caused the walls to slump and bulge. Cattle bumping into the building had done significant damage both inside and out. After consulting with other preservationists experienced in similar projects, the group developed a plan to raise and straighten the walls, replace the entire roof structure, and replace the foundation. No attempt at complete restoration would be made; the trading post was a relic and would remain so.