diff --git a/blockade/api/manager.py b/blockade/api/manager.py
index 49ec9e7..1649416 100644
--- a/blockade/api/manager.py
+++ b/blockade/api/manager.py
@@ -14,59 +14,95 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 
+from blockade.config import BlockadeConfig
 from blockade.core import Blockade
+from blockade.errors import BlockadeNotFound
 from blockade.errors import InvalidBlockadeName
 from blockade.net import BlockadeNetwork
 from blockade.state import BlockadeState
 
-# TODO(pdmars): breaks if server restarts, refactor to be part of BlockadeState
-BLOCKADE_CONFIGS = {}
+import os
+import yaml
+
+
 DATA_DIR = "/tmp"
+BASE_BLOCKADE_DIR = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, ".blockade")
+REST_STATE_FILE = os.path.join(BASE_BLOCKADE_DIR, "rest_state.yaml")
 
 
 class BlockadeManager:
-    """Simple helper for what should eventually be persisted via BlockadeState
+    """Simple helper to persist Blockade configurations managed via REST API
     """
 
     @staticmethod
     def set_data_dir(data_dir):
         global DATA_DIR
         DATA_DIR = data_dir
+        BASE_BLOCKADE_DIR = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, ".blockade")
+        REST_STATE_FILE = os.path.join(BASE_BLOCKADE_DIR, "rest_state.yaml")
+
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def init_base_blockade_dir():
+        if not os.path.isdir(BASE_BLOCKADE_DIR):
+            os.makedirs(BASE_BLOCKADE_DIR)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def read_rest_state():
+        BlockadeManager.init_base_blockade_dir()
+        rest_state = {}
+        if os.path.exists(REST_STATE_FILE):
+            with open(REST_STATE_FILE, "r") as f:
+                rest_state = yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
+        return rest_state
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def write_rest_state(rest_state):
+        BlockadeManager.init_base_blockade_dir()
+        with open(REST_STATE_FILE, "w") as f:
+            yaml.safe_dump(rest_state, f)
 
     @staticmethod
     def blockade_exists(name):
-        global BLOCKADE_CONFIGS
-        return name in BLOCKADE_CONFIGS
+        rest_state = BlockadeManager.read_rest_state()
+        return name in rest_state
 
     @staticmethod
     def store_config(name, config):
-        global BLOCKADE_CONFIGS
-        BLOCKADE_CONFIGS[name] = config
+        rest_state = BlockadeManager.read_rest_state()
+        rest_state[name] = config
+        BlockadeManager.write_rest_state(rest_state)
 
     @staticmethod
     def delete_config(name):
-        global BLOCKADE_CONFIGS
-        if name in BLOCKADE_CONFIGS:
-            del BLOCKADE_CONFIGS[name]
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def load_state(name):
-        global DATA_DIR
-        try:
-            return BlockadeState(blockade_id=name, data_dir=DATA_DIR)
-        except InvalidBlockadeName:
-            raise
+        rest_state = BlockadeManager.read_rest_state()
+        if name in rest_state:
+            del rest_state[name]
+        else:
+            raise BlockadeNotFound()
+        BlockadeManager.write_rest_state(rest_state)
 
     @staticmethod
     def get_blockade(name):
-        global BLOCKADE_CONFIGS
-        config = BLOCKADE_CONFIGS[name]
+        rest_state = BlockadeManager.read_rest_state()
+        blockade_state = BlockadeManager.load_blockade_state(name)
+        if name not in rest_state:
+            raise BlockadeNotFound()
+        config = BlockadeConfig.from_dict(rest_state[name])
         return Blockade(config,
                         blockade_id=name,
-                        state=BlockadeManager.load_state(name),
+                        state=blockade_state,
                         network=BlockadeNetwork(config))
 
     @staticmethod
     def get_all_blockade_names():
-        global BLOCKADE_CONFIGS
-        return list(BLOCKADE_CONFIGS.keys())
+        rest_state = BlockadeManager.read_rest_state()
+        return list(rest_state.keys())
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def load_blockade_state(name):
+        global DATA_DIR
+        try:
+            return BlockadeState(blockade_id=name, data_dir=DATA_DIR)
+        except InvalidBlockadeName:
+            raise
diff --git a/blockade/api/rest.py b/blockade/api/rest.py
index 33652f6..94d4256 100644
--- a/blockade/api/rest.py
+++ b/blockade/api/rest.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 from blockade.api.manager import BlockadeManager
 from blockade.config import BlockadeConfig
+from blockade.errors import BlockadeNotFound
 from blockade.errors import DockerContainerNotFound
 from blockade.errors import InvalidBlockadeName
 
@@ -44,8 +45,9 @@ def unsupported_media_type(error):
 
 
 @app.errorhandler(404)
-def blockade_name_not_found(error):
-    return 'Blockade name not found', 404
+@app.errorhandler(BlockadeNotFound)
+def blockade_not_found(error):
+    return 'Blockade not found', 404
 
 
 @app.errorhandler(InvalidBlockadeName)
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ def create(name):
     # This will abort with a 400 if the JSON is bad
     data = request.get_json()
     config = BlockadeConfig.from_dict(data)
-    BlockadeManager.store_config(name, config)
+    BlockadeManager.store_config(name, data)
 
     b = BlockadeManager.get_blockade(name)
     containers = b.create()
diff --git a/blockade/errors.py b/blockade/errors.py
index f9c8193..3073738 100644
--- a/blockade/errors.py
+++ b/blockade/errors.py
@@ -57,3 +57,7 @@ class InvalidBlockadeName(BlockadeError):
 class DockerContainerNotFound(BlockadeError):
     """Docker container not found
     """
+
+class BlockadeNotFound(BlockadeError):
+    """Blockade not found
+    """