Historic Store in the Oldest Colorado Town Gets Funding for Facility Expansion Plans

A grocery store in the small town of San Luis, Colorado, built 3 years before Abraham Lincoln became president, may soon see a facility expansion owing in part to a just-awarded grant of nearly $103,000.

The R & R Market, located at 367 Main Street, is thought to be the oldest continually operating store in Colorado and for that reason alone is regarded as historically important.

But because the structure was built in Pueblo Revival style, with stepped parapets and a flat roof, it is valued by preservationists for an architectural style rapidly disappearing in the West.

Now called the People’s Market, an effort is underway to expand space within the structure, allowing it to also house a coffee shop, commercial kitchen, and small incubator space.

To that end, the grant, awarded by the non-profit group History Colorado, will fund the creation of comprehensive construction documents needed to accommodate the change.

In a statement, Jason Medina, executive director of the Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley, said the project will “both rejuvenate one of the state’s earliest and most unique Spanish-influenced communities and provide a roadmap for other rural communities looking to build self-sufficiency.”

To give an idea of how old the store is, the Colorado Sun recently noted that it opened its doors before Colorado was a state, and “a year before the first cabins in Denver.”

That the store is regarded as the oldest continually operating store in Colorado makes particular sense given that the town of San Luis, with a current population of around 600 residents, is the oldest town in the state.

By Garry Boulard

Image Credit: Courtesy of History Colorado

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