The Norton Store was one of the first retail establishments in Grant County, having been opened in the middle 1860's. It initially served miners and U.S. Cavalry scouting parties from Fort Bayard, who would cross the continental divide in Pinos Altos as they kept tabs on bands of Apache Indians. The sturdy old building was designed for instant and sustained defense in case the Apaches elected to make tab-keeping a two-way game - which they sometimes did, as attested by some grave markers in the Pinos Altos cemetery.

With hand-made nails selling for a high price back in St. Louis, and a still higher price after being hauled by freight wagons across a third of the continent through hostile territory, the builders fell back on the ages-old mortise and tenon method of floor construction. If you aren't familiar with mortise and tenon construction, please don't try gouging a hole in the floor to see for yourself. It means to carve a slot in a plank and trim the end of a second plank to fit into the slot, thus making a firm union, or joint. Quite simple, if you have unlimited time.

This building had several names and proprietors through the years and at various times housed the postal operation for Pinos Altos. Location of the post office depended on which storekeeper was in favor at the Post Office Department in Washington, D.C. The original Pinos Altos Post Office was opened in 1860.