How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Chandler: property taxes, race)

[desertratz]

Originally Posted by Westside Willie

Thanks. Here are a few more. The first image shows the Concho Room back in the day and as it appears today. Notice the floor is unchanged. Speaking of flooring, my guides presented me with an unused piece of ceramic tile that was kept for repair purposes.Nice! Its about 9in square and weighs about 40 pounds. Im kidding but its the real deal. You can get a peek of this in the second image.

Speaking of movies who can name the film in which some famous actor (maybe Paul Newman?) tossed a TV set off the balcony into the pool seen in the third image? They told me about it and of course, I promptly forgot.

BTW the fourth image shows the inner staircase going up to the maintenance portal for the giant radio tower. The support beams for the tower go through the structure roof and into the building itself. (the last image.)

By golly, I went back and looked at that scene with the Netflix player and I do believe it is the Westward Ho where that scene was filmed. I'm sure a lot of you also have this option and the scene in question is 1 hour 33 minutes into the movie.

[KIG877]

Originally Posted by Westside Willie

Good question. Hmm...I think I actually got it when I toured the Westward Ho.They have a sort of history room there with gobs of stuff about the area in general. Dont go there expecting a museum or anything-more like a stuffy office piled high with boxes and stuff.
I called ahead and asked to go up on the roof to get some pano shots of downtown Phx. When I got there the maintenance dude and his helper took me on a 2.5 hour long guided tour of the entire structure. Everything except the rooms where the occupants now live. They knew quite a bit about the history considering they were both fairly young. Among other things, I was shown an elevator shaft (see attached image) that was used to gain access from an underground tunnel that connected to a parking garage across the street on the east side of Central. They told me only VIP's had access to it including JFK and various movie stars and mobsters from bygone eras.

I shot several hundred images that day, here are a few.

Enjoy.

those old elevator shafts look like those hororr film

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by Donalumni

Super pics Willie! Can anyone remember where they had pro wrestling back in the early 60's in Phoenix? I remember my aunt taking me to a match back at that time and I know it had to be downtown somewhere. Also, if anyone remembers the ladies roller derby days in Phoenix, I know it was outside but was it at Manzanita Raceway on 35th Ave and Broadway? My dad took me to one back then and it seems it was outside.

Maybe Madison Square Garden on 7th Avenue below Van Buren.
I went to the Roller Derby, it was outside and people sat on bleachers. Can't remember where it was. Seems west Phoenix somewhere. It wasn't Manzanita.

[Donalumni]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

Maybe Madison Square Garden on 7th Avenue below Van Buren.
I went to the Roller Derby, it was outside and people sat on bleachers. Can't remember where it was. Seems west Phoenix somewhere. It wasn't Manzanita.

Seems I remember the name Shirley Hardman of the Bay Bombers or sumthin as she was one of the real bruisers. I remember seeing ot on TV also.

[baby sinister]

Originally Posted by Donalumni

Super pics Willie! Can anyone remember where they had pro wrestling back in the early 60's in Phoenix? I remember my aunt taking me to a match back at that time and I know it had to be downtown somewhere. Also, if anyone remembers the ladies roller derby days in Phoenix, I know it was outside but was it at Manzanita Raceway on 35th Ave and Broadway? My dad took me to one back then and it seems it was outside.

I think it was channel 21 that showed the wrestling on Friday nights..."Chuck Carbo", "Tito Montez", "Cowboy Bob Ellis", There was a black guy that was famous for his head butts, but I can't remember his name...I think it was something like "Amon Hussein".

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by baby sinister

I think it was channel 21 that showed the wrestling on Friday nights..."Chuck Carbo", "Tito Montez", "Cowboy Bob Ellis", There was a black guy that was famous for his head butts, but I can't remember his name...I think it was something like "Amon Hussein".

HERE is a link to Madison Square Garden and it lists dozens of wrestlers that appeared there. I was looking for Gorgeous George but he was big time on TV. My grandpa would always watch wrestling, he actually thought it was real.

[FadedGlory]

Originally Posted by baby sinister

I think it was channel 21 that showed the wrestling on Friday nights..."Chuck Carbo", "Tito Montez", "Cowboy Bob Ellis", There was a black guy that was famous for his head butts, but I can't remember his name...I think it was something like "Amon Hussein".

Hmm, I was thinking it was Channel 5 that used to show the Friday night wrestling, I could be wrong.

Tito Montez was my neighbor in the 60's. We would see him get the carp beat out of him on Friday night and then see him on the weekend and he didn't have a mark on him. He was a really nice guy though and very friendly to us kids.

[Westside Willie]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

Can't remember where it was. Seems west Phoenix somewhere. It wasn't Manzanita.

Speaking of " Manzy" here's an old gem. They also used to hold rock concerts out there. I remember seeing Alice Cooper & Canned Heat around 1972.
A massive deluge began pouring down moments after Alice's encore and thousands of us were sloshing around in the muddy desert/parking lot for hours trying to get home. The next day we found out that Canned Heat had been relieved of most of their gear by some slobs who took advantage of the need to leave the trucks parked overnight.

Also here is a pic of the 1991 Phoenix "Gran Prix" formula One race. How many of you remember that? I think it only lasted 3-4 years before the plug was pulled. This shot is looking west down Jefferson from Central.

[desertratz]

Originally Posted by FadedGlory

Hmm, I was thinking it was Channel 5 that used to show the Friday night wrestling, I could be wrong.

Tito Montez was my neighbor in the 60's. We would see him get the carp beat out of him on Friday night and then see him on the weekend and he didn't have a mark on him. He was a really nice guy though and very friendly to us kids.

Just about everything you could want to know about Madison Square Garden from it's opening in 1929 till it's closing and destruction.

http://www.azhistory.net/doc/pmsg/pmsg072005.pdf

[AzSon]

Originally Posted by FadedGlory

Hmm, I was thinking it was Channel 5 that used to show the Friday night wrestling, I could be wrong.

Tito Montez was my neighbor in the 60's. We would see him get the carp beat out of him on Friday night and then see him on the weekend and he didn't have a mark on him. He was a really nice guy though and very friendly to us kids.

According to the link Desertratz posted about MSG , channel 5 broadcast wrestling from the garden on wednesday nights in the 60's. ( page 13 )