Clarence E. (CE) and Mae Dallas opened the Dallas Cash Grocery in 1926 on their ranch at Caprock, New Mexico, which had been founded in 1910. To keep the store stocked, CE and his sons often spent five days traveling by horse-drawn wagon, taking two days to reach Roswell, one day to shop, and two days to return. The original building, purchased from the Robinson family, was moved to a site just off Highway 380 by Swain Eubank's mule team. Neighbors and travelers stopped there for supplies and, in later years, gasoline, while the Dallas Mercantile also served as a gathering place for socializing, exchanging gossip, and discussing local and national news, with many conversations taking place around the pot-bellied stove in back during cold winter days. In 1938 the business expanded to include a Conoco station, and it eventually closed in 1957. The original store was later donated by Jody and Edith Dallas, but because of deterioration and current building codes it was removed; in 2012 Lea County and the Town of Tatum Revitalization Fund built a replica. The Gilbarco gas pump was donated by Lynn and Katie Medlin and refurbished by the Town of Tatum Revitalization Fund, and the land was donated by Gale and Gloria Blackwell.