The oldest still running seashell shop in America is The Shell Shop in Morro Bay, CA which opened in 1955. Lawrence Thomas was an abalone diver and commercial fisherman in the area and naturally had a large collection of nice abalone shells. His ten year old son David asked if he could sell his dad’s abalone shells for ten cents apiece that summer. He made $100 that season, selling the shells that are a natural byproduct of the local fishing industry that Morro Bay is famous for from a lemonade style stand.

Inspiration had struck and the Thomas family began selling abalone shells to tourists and adding other shells via importers. They now import shells from over 20 different countries. The elder Thomas was a deep water shrimp fisherman and would drag up some very rare shells which added to young David’s fledgling inventory. Lawrence built David a small building from which to sell his growing collection of shells on the bay’s waterfront for the next summer.

Another interesting fact about The Shell Shop is that Lawrence Thomas and his partners performed salvage work in the off season. The greatest peacetime loss of ships that the US Navy ever experienced was the Point Honda disaster on September 8^th 1923. Seven destroyers ran aground just off the coast of Gaviota, California. Lawrence Thomas was awarded the contract to salvage all of the brass items from these ships, primarily for scrap. But Lawrence saved some items of interest. Some of the ships’ bells were sent to a memorial marker and the Morro Bay Maritime Museum. The one ton anchor of the USS Chauncey was put in front of The Shell Shop and is still there today. Lawrence and his team also did salvage dives at Jade Cove just north of Morro and brought up huge jade boulders that were sold to collectors at the shop. Some of these boulders weighed hundreds of pounds!

The Shell Shop in Morro Bay is still going strong and is a great place to visit. The bay and it’s famous Morro Rock are both beautiful and there’s plenty to do in the area. Have a nice meal, grab an ice cream, and stop in at The Shell shop. They have an incredible collection of shells and some really great shell jewelry and décor items.