The Pioneer Store Museum consists of an 1880 Silver Boom Town mercantile. It was closed in rhe early 1920s, and was sealed up with lumber and tin over all of the windows and doors. It stood that way, unmolested, for nearly 70 years. When opened, the merchandise, including food stuff, was still on the shelves. It is the intent of the owners to preserve the 'store' as it was found for the benefit of the public.

The Pioneer Store was built by Mr. James Dalglish in 1880. He had come to the southwest from eastern Canada to improve his failing health. He built the large, log, building of hand hewn Ponderosa Pine logs, harvested from the mountain forests to the west of present day Chloride. By late 1880, the building was complete and was in business as the Pioneer Store. Mr. Dalglish operated it through out the Silver Boom years of 1880 through 1897, carrying all the goods needed for the miners and their families. The store stocked all manner of household goods, including food for residents and their animals, clothes for the entire family, mining equipment and tools, and ranch equipment and supplies. Wagons, buggies, and other large items could be ordered, as well as such specialty items as Brides Trousseaus.

A United States Post Office was established in the front part of the store building in 1881, and the news paper, The Black Range, began printing a weekly paper in the upstairs rooms in 1882. The large safe in the store building served as a local Bank for the remote mining operators and for the scattered ranches. It also served as a ‘Pawn Shop’, as records show “--- $2.00 loaned on watch in the safe”.

When the Silver Boom ended in 1896, Mr. Dalglish leased the building to others who continued its operation until 1908. At that time the building, with all its contents, was purchased by the U.S. Treasury Mining Company. That company soon became the property of the James Family, who had arrived in Chloride in 1882. The James’ operated the store as a commissary for the employees of their mining, timbering, and ranching operations, however, by 1923, most of the residents of Chloride had moved on, and the mining, timbering, and ranching businesses had fallen on hard times. The James family decided to close the store, and seal it up with lumber and tin over the doors and windows. All of the original furnishings for the store and the Post Office, along with all of the items of merchandise, including food, were left in the building. The intent was that by the time the James’ young son, Edward Jr., got an education, the town of Chloride would have a resurgence, and he would have a business to step into. It did not work out that way. Edward Jr. was educated as a Scientist. His work back east, then at Los Alamos, and finally at Livermore Labs in California, kept him from returning to Chloride except for an occasional visit.

When we met Mr. James on one of his visits to Chloride in 1979, we found that we had several things in common. In addition to our both being involved in developing Missile Systems for the U.S. Government, we both had a strong interest in preserving what was left of a once bustling, but now almost deserted, Silver Mining boom town. Mr. James showed us the old Pioneer Store building, and in spite of the fact that it had been closed for 68 years, and was full of Bat and Rodent debris, it was an obvious treasure trove of the past. We both agreed it should be a Museum, but he lived in California, and we lived in Las Cruces, and had only weekends to spend in Chloride, so there was no one to do the restoration work that was needed. When I retired in 1986 and we moved to Chloride to live, we again discussed the Museum project with Mr. James. In 1989, he agreed to sell us both the Pioneer Store and the adjacent Monte Cristo Saloon, including the contents of both buildings. We immediately began working on an application to have both buildings placed on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties. Both the Pioneer Store and the Monte Christo Saloon buildings were accepted to that list on March 22, 1991, being numbers SR1538 and SR1539 respectively.

The restoration and refurbishment of the Pioneer Store building was started in 1994, and was completed four years later. The exterior had to be straightened from years of sagging, the ponderosa pine logs had to be re-chinked, and most of the window frames had to be rebuilt and reglazed, and both the roof and the foundation had to be redone. In the interior, we found that most of the town records from 1880 to 1923 had been stored in the building in boxes that had been stacked high. Over the years, the boxes had weakened and toppled over, spilling the contents over nearly the entire length of the building. Before work could start on the inside, all of these records had to be picked up, cleaned, and repacked to await time to sort and classify them properly. There are approximately 50 boxes of personal, business, and Town site records. Because of the extensive bat and rodent debris, all of the store furnishings and items that had once been the store’s inventory, had to be removed to be cleaned and refurbished. Once the interior was cleaned and re-white washed, the furnishings were reinstalled as they had been, and the store’s inventory was replaced on the shelves. The building was ready to be opened to the public as the PIONEER STORE MUSEUM in 1998. It was soon discovered by tourists who told other tourists about it, and was eventually written up in several publications including the New Mexico Magazine, Western and Eastern Treasures Magazine, Sunset Magazine, Highways Magazine, The Smithsonian Magazine, and has also been written up in several large circulation newspapers such as the Denver Post and the El Paso Times. In 1991, the PIONEER STORE MUSEUM was incorporated as a Non-Profit Corporation, and has an IRS tax classification as a 501 ( c ) (3). The Museum does not charge an admittance fee, but rather depends on donations from visitors who want to be a part of saving some of the past.