In 1936 Claude and Willa Bowlin opened the Old Crater Trading Post, named for the nearby ancient volcanic crater, was a two story building that ran parallel to unpaved Route 66, and located about a mile north of Bluewater, New Mexico. Constructed of wooden slab, the building housed the store and living quarters. The upstairs level had a porch across the front that provided shade to the store entrance below. Claude draped large colorful rugs over the railings to showcase the handiwork of the local Navajo women; their lovely, simple patterns fluttering in the seemingly ceaseless wind. The building no longer exists, but Bowlin Travel Centers, Inc. still operates a store in Bluewater today.