How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Glendale: hottest, concrete)

[scoty]

roosevelt your the man. you make this sight what it is. not to take from any els. everybody is great with this info and these pics. thanks for the great history.

[scoty]

ok i rember a skate park in sunnyslope called high roller. it was on the corner of cave creek and 7th street,across the street from sunnyslope honda. it was all concrete verts and high banks. there was a skate shop there too. my dad took me there in the early 80s. i would go to yellow front with my mom to do all of my school shopping. i wold always want to go to tonys deli across the street caddy corner to get a sub.

[aviator7777]

One of my first real jobs was as a bag boy /carrryout for Smittys. I first worked at 35th Ave and Peoria and later at Bell Rd and I-17 when it was new. I remember them always after the guys bringing in the carts to keep their aaprons tied and ties on even though it was well over 100 degrees. I had to wear a clip on necktie with white dress shirt. They were very strict about being on time and didnt tolerate loafing. When there was a free moment they always sent us to face the canned goods forward or remove excess cardboard. I know..pretty boring stuff. Our managers were some of the best in the company or so I heard later..Lou Benassi, Doug, Rich among others. They all probably still work in retail grocery operations somewhere.

[1937Gal]

Originally Posted by scoty

ok i rember a skate park in sunnyslope called high roller. it was on the corner of cave creek and 7th street,across the street from sunnyslope honda. it was all concrete verts and high banks. there was a skate shop there too. my dad took me there in the early 80s. i would go to yellow front with my mom to do all of my school shopping. i wold always want to go to tonys deli across the street caddy corner to get a sub.

I remember that exact skate park as well only I skated there long long before you did. My father and mother had friends who lived in Sunnyslope and this was in the late 40s and early 50s when Sunnyslope was just almost desert with homes scattered about.

[scoty]

Originally Posted by 1937Gal

I remember that exact skate park as well only I skated there long long before you did. My father and mother had friends who lived in Sunnyslope and this was in the late 40s and early 50s when Sunnyslope was just almost desert with homes scattered about.

wow, i had no idea that high roller was there that long before i skated there. im just glad i got to see that cool skate park before it got torn down

[scoty]

Originally Posted by scoty

Great pic, I was in Brookshires every day as a child. Ben franklins was my fav store back then. i rember it was behind brookshires in the aj bayless strip mall. they had anything a kid could ever want. thanks

i cant rember if that was a aj bayless or was it a alpha beta. i think it was a alpha beta. i think i got it wrong in my poast

[dgsaz1950]

Originally Posted by Biltmore Desert Rat

What is the history and who lived in the mansion on the Southwest corner of 32nd Street and Camelback?

From what I know the family name was Templeton. They owned the corner as well as the frontage down Camelback to the west and down 32nd to the south to about Elm Street.

They carved a home site right on the corner and left the balance of the property as active an citrus orchard. As kids we would trick or treat the big house at Halloween.

The Templeton's had a caretaker who lived on site in an apartment over the garage in the back. As kids we had a running battle with the caretaker, who we disrespectfully referred to as "the hunky", which was short for bohunk, a slang referenced to people from Poland.

Cutting through the orchard and the Templeton's property was the most direct route to the store and gas station on the opposite corner. Done correctly, you would exit the orchard at warp speed on your Stingray and blast past the garage, down the driveway and out to 32nd Street.

We were chased, yelled at, had things thrown at us.............all deserved.

We were a group that could be best described as "dirty little bastards". When we hit high school, the orchard was used to stash beer and other contraband. There were a few parties deep in the orchard complete with camp fires and music. That proved a bit too close to civilization and we moved further north to Shiprock.

Off subject: Who has stories about the old Merryweather Mansion?

Was there a scarier place down town than walking past the Saint James Hotel at 7th Street and Washington(?). The lobby/bar looked like death on a stick.

[SluggoF16]

I just returned from a week in Nashville, and the cicadas there are in their 13-year peak this year; one can't walk anywhere without crunching. I remember a summer in the early 70s that was a big year in Phoenix, maybe 1972(?); for us kids it was a great summer of chasing down what we called "locusts" in the trees. The palo verdes and cottonwoods were thick with shells and adults and the noise was deafening. Definitely THE sound of summer!

[1937Gal]

Originally Posted by SluggoF16

I just returned from a week in Nashville, and the cicadas there are in their 13-year peak this year; one can't walk anywhere without crunching. I remember a summer in the early 70s that was a big year in Phoenix, maybe 1972(?); for us kids it was a great summer of chasing down what we called "locusts" in the trees. The palo verdes and cottonwoods were thick with shells and adults and the noise was deafening. Definitely THE sound of summer!

In 1971, my husband and I were doing yard work in the front yard. Our Weeping Willow tree was full of Cicadas... My hair was 70s style..backcombed and full of hairspray. One of those flying bugs flew into my hair and stuck. It buzzed and hummed and I was running around the yard in circles yelling at my husband "get it out get it out"...and he was yelling "stop running so I can". I yelled back "you'll have to catch me". It was most unpleasant and I have really hated those noisy bugs since.

[1937Gal]

Originally Posted by dgsaz1950

From what I know the family name was Templeton. They owned the corner as well as the frontage down Camelback to the west and down 32nd to the south to about Elm Street.

They carved a home site right on the corner and left the balance of the property as active an citrus orchard. As kids we would trick or treat the big house at Halloween.

The Templeton's had a caretaker who lived on site in an apartment over the garage in the back. As kids we had a running battle with the caretaker, who we disrespectfully referred to as "the hunky", which was short for bohunk, a slang referenced to people from Poland.

Cutting through the orchard and the Templeton's property was the most direct route to the store and gas station on the opposite corner. Done correctly, you would exit the orchard at warp speed on your Stingray and blast past the garage, down the driveway and out to 32nd Street.

We were chased, yelled at, had things thrown at us.............all deserved.

We were a group that could be best described as "dirty little bastards". When we hit high school, the orchard was used to stash beer and other contraband. There were a few parties deep in the orchard complete with camp fires and music. That proved a bit too close to civilization and we moved further north to Shiprock.

Off subject: Who has stories about the old Merryweather Mansion?

Was there a scarier place down town than walking past the Saint James Hotel at 7th Street and Washington(?). The lobby/bar looked like death on a stick.

Does anyone remember the unoccupied sort-of shack that sat in trees on the south side of Camelback, just east of 24th Street?....it was the site of many a party in the late 50s.