classical gas museum

The “museum”, a collection of old gas pumps, cars, signs and various other antiques. Inside the building there are dozens of the globes from the tops of old gas pumps all lit from the inside. They have neon signs, old service station products in mint condition, old Pepsi and Coke machines, etc. If you like HDR photography, you'll love this place.

The hallmark of this nostalgic place is the Valentine Diner. The exterior looks like it is in good condition, unfortunately there are no plans to restore it. The last operating Valentine Diner i knew of was the Tic Toc Diner in Albuquerque, but the owners closed up shop and moved it to somewhere in Colorado. Otherwise this is a hodgepodge collection of gas pumps and other gas station memorabilia. There are several American Visible Gas Pumps in reasonably good condition and an indoor area full of stuff. It is right off the road and easy to get to (and miss).

This little museum sits on the east side of the road, across from the Rio Grande river, about halfway between Santa Fe and Taos, NM. It is hard to miss while driving by, because of a large grouping of old gas pumps and large circular signs identifying old gasoline brands. My daughter and I decided to visit it because of a recommendation from the owner of our motel in Santa Fe, and we were not disappointed. The owner, Johnnie Meier, has assembled, over the last thirty years, an amazing collection of gas pumps, signs, oil cans, maps, tools, globes neon lights, thermometers, toys and other memorabilia from the "old days" of driving along the nation's highways and byways. The collection is housed in two sections - first, an outdoor area with hundreds of varied types of machinery which are slowly rusting and being worn away by the elements; there are several really old car portions there - one is an old Pontiac pickup truck, but a great majority is old gas pumps, of the type with the clear cylinder at the top. The second part is housed indoors, and this includes a number of items which are for sale. There are hundreds of signs, lighted globes from the top of pumps, toys, models, and several hour's worth of "goodies." Johnnie is very pleasant to talk to and quite personable. He does have several types of soda pop for sale, in bottles only, from an old cooler, I enjoyed the nostalgic feelings, and my late-teen daughter was fascinated. Worth a visit, I believe!