Bertha Glover

Bertha Glover in the Pine Springs Store, 1979

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Significance:

Bertha Glover and her husband ran a roadside store during much of the Twentieth Century located inside what is now Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Place of Birth:

Bandera, Texas

Date of Birth:

January 3, 1893

Place of Death:

El Paso, Texas

Date of Death:

August 13, 1982

Place of Burial:

Carlsbad, New Mexico

Cemetery Name:

Carlsbad Cemetery

Bertha Glover and her husband Walter operated a roadside store at Pine Springs through much of the Twentieth Century. The store and the Glovers made strong impressions on travelers for decades. 

Bertha Miller was born in Bandera, Texas, on Jan. 23, 1893. Her family moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico when she was eight years old. She graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1912, then moved to Salt Flat, Texas, where she taught elementary school for a year.

In 1914, she married Walter Glover and the couple moved to Pine Springs Ranch. Following the construction of U.S. Highway 62/180, they developed a roadside store.  where they also operated the store.

The Glovers were opposed to the establishment of Guadalupe Mountains National Park and refused to sell their lands which were included within the proposed park boundary. In 1970 the National Park Service initiated condemnation proceedings for 80 acres; the Glovers were awarded $55,000 dollars and allowed to continue to live at and operate the store for the remainder of their lives.

Walter Glover died in 1973 and Bertha Glover continued to operate the store by herself for the next decade, maintaining a civil relationship with the park and park staff.