The stated mission of the Patagonia Museum is “to preserve artifacts, photographs, letters, and manuscripts that depict the ranching, mining, and mercantile life of eastern Santa Cruz County.”
This original watercolor by Dorcas Rosenfeld nicely illustrates our effort to fulfill that mission. Her depiction of the Corner Store General Mercantile, created in 1953, honors the business that occupied the corner of McKeown and 3rd.
According to a “Glimpses Into Our Past” column written for the PRT by Alison Bunting, the store was owned and operated by Valentine Valenzuela Jr. in the 1930s.
That building was torn down in the 1960s to make way for a hotel built by Anne Stradling, and that corner is now home to the South32 office. However, thanks to a donor interested in local history, we have an artifact showing how Patagonia appeared in the 1950s on display at Old Main in 2025.
Mission accomplished.