Three quarters of a century, from 1880 to the 1950s, saw an immense change in pueblo pottery in most of the pueblos and that includes pottery from Acoma Pueblo. When the transcontinental railroad passed through New Mexico Territory in 1880, it made a stop at Laguna Pueblo to give the tourists a chance to see the highly touted Indians of the area. Potters from Acoma Pueblo would load their wares on burros and take the trip to Laguna to sell to the train travelers. It did not take long for the potters to realize that their magnificent large and beautiful pottery was not practical for travelers to handle, so the potters began making smaller items for that purpose.
Following World War I, the railroad moved its tracks from Laguna over to the Acoma villages, thus greatly facilitating the Acoma potters and devastating those at Laguna. In the 1930s, Route 66 was built along the former railroad route giving potters from both pueblos another outlet to set up stands along the highway to sell their wares. Converting Route 66 to Interstate 25 ended that procedure, however.
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