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Congratulations to Mesilla Book Center, Mesilla, N.Mex., which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Paul and Cheryll Blevins own the business, which was inherited from Cheryll's mother, Mary Bowlin, who for decades operated the store she and her husband "bought in 1966 after selling books at the World's Fair in New York for a couple of years," she told KRWG.
"At that time Mesilla was dirt streets, there wasn't much here. So it was kind of a leap of faith to take on the business," said Blevins, adding that the building, which was constructed in the 1850s, once housed a mercantile store that provided supplies to the Black Range during the silver boom. It also served as a pool and poker hall at one time.
She also shared a key to the longtime survival of the store: "Well basically, we're a nonprofit. We specialize in a lot of Western, Southwestern history, a lot of local authors, we have children's books. We've always tried to not carry what you can find at the mall."