Maisel's Indian Trading Post
510 Central Ave. SW., Albuquerque, NMWhen the building was completed in 1939, it was celebrated for the way in which architect John Gaw Meem had rendered the Indian murals, integrating them into the facade of a commercial building to give it what Albuquerque Progress labeled an "Indian Pueblo architecture." This distinct facade clearly signaled the building's function to Route 66 motorists, making it a popular stopping place for tourists seeking southwestern and Mexican curios, a role that it continues to fulfill today. The Maisel family was one of the first trading families to see the potential of large-scale crafts production for both retail and wholesale purposes and used the basement as a work area for Indian craftsmen. The open stairway enabled tourists to observe those craftsmen at work. Because of this historic association with automobile tourism along Route 66, the property is eligible under Criterion A. It is also eligible under Criterion C as a good example of how Meem was able to extend a southwestern tone to a commercial building through the use of carefully chosen design and materials, imbuing it with a clear sense of its intent as a curio shop
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.