Photos: Cortaro General Store (now Arizona Pavillions) in 1978
The sleepy Cortaro General Store was one of a handful of buildings and tenants at Cortaro Road and I-10 in the late 70s. The store's quiet life was peppered with a suicide in the phone booth in 1959, an armed robbery and robbery, a stabbing of a store clerk in the 70s and a sink hole in 1982. The site is now a McDonald's. The land around it, once cotton fields, is now Arizona Pavillions and business and industrial parks.
Cortaro General Store
Owner Chuck Shinberg, right, chats with a local patron at the Cortaro General Store at Cortaro Road and I-10 in December, 1978. His customers included works from Arizona Portland Cement, road-construction crews and retirees, who preferred buying the newspaper at his store.
Cortaro General Store
An Arizona Daily Star story in 1979 quoted "an old-timer guzzling Coors in front of Cortaro General Store" as saying that area of Cortaro was "a 'zit' on the (expletive, begins with an "a") of Pima County." A bit harsh.
Cortaro General Store
Simple signs in front of the Cortaro General Store at Cortaro Road and I-10 entice visitors to guest ranches in December, 1978.
Cortaro General Store
The I-10 southbound frontage road and the Cortaro General Store at Cortaro Road in December, 1978. The cotton fields to left are now Arizona Pavillions shopping center and business and light industrial further south.
Cortaro General Store
Cortaro General Store on the NW corner of Cortaro Road and I-10 in December, 1978. The cotton field is now the parking lot of a Burger King. The site of the Cortaro General Store is now a McDonald's.
Cortaro General Store
Owner Chuck Shinberg greets a resident at the Cortaro General Store at Cortaro Road and I-10 in December, 1978. "My store is open 96 hours a week," Shinberg said. "This is like a community center. Everyone knows everyone else, their kids, where they work."
Cortaro General Store
Owner Chuck Shinberg waits for a customer to produce change for his apple pastry and Fresca at Cortaro General Store at Cortaro Road and I-10 in December, 1978. At 25 years old, the store had a good stock of "unbreakable" combs, beer and sour pickles.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor