How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Superior: cottage, property)

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

This is exactly right, many people did not have the money to buy land and then sit on it for 30 years. Some people wanted to but couldn't; others never thought of land as an investment, they are usually the ones that talk about what they could have bought land for, like my grandfather, a farm at Thomas and Central for a $1 an acre but he didn't like the soil.

I have an aerial photo of Scottsdale Road and McDowell in 1958. The Los Arcos Mall land is totally vacant desert; the Chevy dealer land on the northeast corner was vacant desert; The Bob's Big Boy 40 acre corner was crops; the last corner, southwest, was a gas station but nothing around it until you get to a small house subdivision south of it. I heard at the time Bob's bought their corner lot the price was $10,000. As far as the eye can see to the mountains, desert in all directions except for a few farms. Just amazing.

And just 5 years later that whole area was all but built up

[azdr0710]

if it makes us feel any better about missed land opportunities, I presume a buyer back then would've had to buy many hundreds of acres in a deal to buy raw land miles out in the then-desert....so, even then, it would've seemed expensive to do a deal like that....

just trying to explain why we ALL didn't buy land back then....

was just up in Las Vegas a few weeks ago...saw a one or so acre lot for sale right on the strip for something like $24 million.....

[cvsgnw]

Anyone remember an old nightclub or resturant on Central, 1950's with a big Canary in neon on the side of it? I think it was where Park Central was/is. May have been some sort of other bird but I remember the yellow neon.

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by cvsgnw

Anyone remember an old nightclub or resturant on Central, 1950's with a big Canary in neon on the side of it? I think it was where Park Central was/is. May have been some sort of other bird but I remember the yellow neon.

That was the Gilded Cage and there was a nude woman inside the neon cage; it was located two blocks north of Thomas near Park Central. It was called a rich cowboy strip joint. Got closed because of back room gambling I think.

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

That was the Gilded Cage and there was a nude woman inside the neon cage; it was located two blocks north of Thomas near Park Central. It was called a rich cowboy strip joint. Got closed because of back room gambling I think.

Here's a link to a very atmospheric photo of the Gilded Cage by valley photographer Jack Norman, who used a 4x5 Speed Graphic to document Phoenix in the Phifties:

http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/jn%20gilded%20cage2.jpg (broken link)

I love his work. Here are some more on the Acmeron site.

http://www.acmeron.com/puhs/jn%20gilded%20cage2.jpg (broken link)

[deraffe]

yea, i guess my family owned a lot of land around scottsdale as they moved here early on.

the land that fudruckers is on that used to be the farrel's ice cream, was owned by my family and they had a bed and breakfast there. i remember my grandmother showing me pics of it covered in snow from the news paper. unfortunately the news clipping has long since disappeared. does anyone have access to pics of early scottsdale that might have a good shot?


i guess the family also owned the land just to the west of the B&B on the south west corner of camelback and 68th street, but lost it to taxes in the depression... wish i had that land now!

[deraffe]

i am also looking for info on a house near where i grew up it is located on the west side of 40th street and flower in phx. i remember the Tubes lived there for a while it was built by an early wealthy family, i remember it had a big steel swimming pool near the road. it is a 2 story house on a BIG piece of land. i was talking to my neighbor the other day and she had told me that it was also a sanitorium for a while. she is 74 and moved here to sell realestate in 72. it seems she has info on just about any house or building i can ask about.

IIRC the address is 3332 or 3338 E 40th street or there abouts possably it might have an address on mullbery as the property boarders it to the north.

[YAZ]

Remember when the asking price for your home was quite reasonable and you kept getting offers higher and higher until you had to settle for 50% more for what you originally intended?

Ahhh....the good ole days of 2006......

[msbirdie]

I remember living off of Pinnacle Peak when the flash floods would come thru and flood the area. We would have to go out in the storm and get all the animals in the barn. We were surrounded by orchards and migrant farm villages and the only place to eat close by was The Barn on Bell rd.

[deraffe]

Originally Posted by deraffe

i am also looking for info on a house near where i grew up it is located on the west side of 40th street and flower in phx. i remember the Tubes lived there for a while it was built by an early wealthy family, i remember it had a big steel swimming pool near the road. it is a 2 story house on a BIG piece of land. i was talking to my neighbor the other day and she had told me that it was also a sanitorium for a while. she is 74 and moved here to sell realestate in 72. it seems she has info on just about any house or building i can ask about.

IIRC the address is 3332 or 3338 E 40th street or there abouts possably it might have an address on mullbery as the property boarders it to the north.

ok since i can't find out how to edit a post, here is more info:
the house and property was orginally owned by the Sandage family who owned most of the land in the area. at some point he sold the land to Ed (?) Baker of Bakers nursery fame and he had moved the family in and out of it at different times and might still live there today.