Yes, Virginia - There WAS a Tiffany Mercantile Co.*

* And – as of mid-July, 2015 – it was For Sale!!   See [ngdiscussion.net], below, for details.


Hi, All -

Having been unable to find my old pix of the vaguely-remembered store near Ignacio, I went searching for the real thing while on vacation earlier this month.   Driving west from Arboles, I noticed a sign - "Tiffany - 9 miles" and ... Boing!  BOING!!   BOING!!! . . . the bells in my feeble brain began to ring, and I suddenly remembered:  The TIFFANY MERCANTILE CO.

Here's what the building looks like today - obviously a private residence, with a carport added to on the east side [that's been there for many years].  The building itself looks nearly identical to the right 2/3 of Matt's model of the Gomez Store - see [ngdiscussion.net] - except for the large roofed porch on the front. Perhaps they were built from the same plans or were both built from identical 'kit' buildings which IIRC were available from Sears, etc., many years ago, and the porch added on later.


Here's my VERY rough rendition of how I remember seeing the store in 1966. IIRC, the paint was nearly gone; I don't remember what color(s) it was, and I'm not sure whether it was even still in business at that time, although I vaguely remember a large round Coca-Cola sign (maybe there were a pair of them on either side of the false front).  The D&RGW tracks ran where the fence is now, in front of the store.  Does anyone have photos of the Tiffany Mercantile Company (no "h") as it appeared in the fifties or sixties that could be posted?  I for one would enjoy seeing them!


Tiffany is so small that it's not even on my AAA map of Colorado, which is probably why I had forgotten the name of the place, and it's not on the highway between Arboles and Ignacio but off on a graded road a mile or two south of highway 151 just west of Allison, and then west of that road about 1/2 mile. I have added it to the map below. There's an old livery stable / auto shop across the street near the store, an old church a block or so away, two or three other homes in Tiffany, and that's about all. This would be a great small town tiny village to model for those interested in the west end of the Chama-Durango line!


Note that at one time - roughly 1890 to 1912 or '13 - there was a short siding here to accommodate the weekly exchange of a Tiffany Summer & Winter car with one arriving from Alamosa with fresh beer, oysters, and other east-coast delicacies. (See [ngdiscussion.net] et seq.)

- Rüsso



Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2023 07:38PM by Russo Loco.