Rockaway Studio
Built in 1920
STewards of yesterday
Rockaway Studio
Ed and Blanch Wood built this sturdy little building in 1920, and for years it served as the heart of their photography studio and variety store. When Blanche became Rockaway’s postmistress in the mid-1930s, the post office moved right into the shop, making it a lively gathering place where locals came not only for stamps and letters, but for conversation and news. After the great fire of 1934, barber Newell Olson even set up his shop here for a short time while the Monk building was being rebuilt.
The Woods continued to run Rockaway’s post office, its third home, until 1950, when Joe Mills took over, followed later by Darrell Fisher, who operated a branch of M. L. Schmidt Realty in the early 1960s.
In 1962, the building found a new caretaker in Gertrude “Kelley” Schaeffer, who later became Mrs. Floyd Chartier. She opened a laundromat that served the community for more than a decade. After a brief stint of flower shops, her daughter, Clara Absolar, along with Clara’s son Bob Kelley and his wife Carolyn, breathed new life into the space. In the summer of 1982, they opened Kelley’s Korner, and the building once again became a familiar neighborhood stop.
Through every change and every era, the structure has held fast. Nearly a century after it first opened its doors, the building continues to welcome locals and visitors alike, now as Joe’s Snacks and Beer, owned by Debra Reeves. A testament to Rockaway’s resilience, it continues to stand exactly where it always has, woven into the fabric of the town's everyday life.