Built around 1890, Garcia y Sánchez General Merchandise documents the transition of Barelas from a small agricultural village to an urban neighborhood whose residents worked in the nearby repair shops of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Initially, the general store catered to the farming families who lived along the Acequia Madre and its adobe construction used the same vernacular material as their houses. Yet it also adopted new materials being made available by the railroad. The two-story structure is finished with cement stucco and has a pitched roof of corrugated metal and a shed roof that is cantilevered over the entrance. The multiple doors and windows, including a bay window tucked into the front gable, reflect the increasing ubiquity and affordability of both sheet glass and milled lumber. The original building was expanded to serve as the combined business and residence of Juan Antonio Garcia y Sánchez, who lived here between 1907 and 1932. The building has since been adapted solely for residential use.
References
Wilson, Chris, “Barelas-South Fourth Street Historic District,” Bernalillo County, New Mexico. National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form, 1996. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.