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I remember Phoenix when North High School was North Phoenix and East High School was East, etc. I remember cursing down Central with friends and the mail stopping point was Bob's Big Boy.
]My sister and I walked either to Encanto Park or Park Central Mall to spend out days. When they added "Central Air Conditioning" we would spend the hot summer days at the Phoenix Library.
They had a rodeo parade each year and for a week everyone dressed in western wear. In school we loved rodeo week; it was the only time we could EVER wear jeans to school. They had mock prisons set up downtown for those who were not dressed for the occasion. The Indian School for which Indian School Road was named, was still here and it was not uncommon to see Navaho's dressed in their colorful attire. In fact, long skirts and Concho belts were a part of every woman's wardrobe.Phoenix was full of decorator orange trees. The oranges were sour and it was always amusing to watch the tourists sneaking them off of the trees.[/FONT]
We can remember when they opened Christ town mall and one of the mail attractions was a bird aviary in the mall.
I can remember when Lincoln was a dirt road and also when they had the grand opening of I-17, Phoenix's first freeway.
Phoenix was small and compact and we loved it. When we left in 1966 and returned in 1979, the growth was a shock. However Phoenix is Phoenix and it is home. However, now it just doesn't feel the same.
Last edited by observer53; 04-10-2013 at 06:50 AM..
Reason: removed broken font tags
I remember rodeo week! Was it the Jaycees rodeo? Parada del Sol rodeo maybe? It was such a HUGE deal all through town. All the men would wear bolo ties hats and boots, the women would wear maiden skirts and silver with turquoise concho belts... or the more daring women would dress like Dale Evens in fancy western shirts, hats and boots (mom didn't think much of THOSE ladies! LOL!).
I was a child of the '60's. Lived mostly in the north end of town... 29th Drive between Greenway & T-Bird, Sunnyslope, 35th Ave and T-Bird, until my parents moved us to the mid west when I was in maybe third grade (mid 70's). We came back to Phoenix three years later ('78) and back to the north end of town. Stayed in Sunnyslope for a year before moving to 24th Ave just north of Bell Road.
With that background, who remembers:
The Rusty Nail Restaurant and Saloon, 19th Ave & Bell, NW corner
The put-put golf course on Bethany & I-17 with the big dinosaur that you could always see from the freeway?
Or that church that used to be off the east side of I-17 and about Northern, right on the frontage road. Huge glistening white steeple showing for miles at night. I would always know when we were almost home from a long road trip because I could see that steeple beaming through the darkness
How about the "Ugly Teller" at the United Bank, NW corner 35th Ave & Peoria? What else was in that plaza? Seems like there was a Yellow Front. I know for sure there was a Straw Hat Pizza joint.
Speaking of Straw Hat, how about sitting in the dark dining room, feasting on mediocre pizza and salad with bleu cheese dressing, watching old Laurel n Hardy or 3 Stooges movies on that noisy projector they had at the front of the dining room.
Smitty's Big Town was across Peoria. There was a greasy little sub shop across 35th Ave. Port of Subs maybe?
Speaking of greasy sub shops, anyone remember Appetitos?
How about The Filling Station sandwich buffet in the old der Wienerschnitzel building at I-17 and Bethany? I think that one is a Filly-B's now
Oh man! I remember there was an IHOP on the corner of 19th Ave & Bethany Home. I think it was the NW corner back then? Same parking lot as the Hospital. It was still called International House of Pancakes back then.
I think there was an Arby's right there too, but maybe I'm thinking of further west on Bethany.
Speaking of roast beef, anyone remember Rax Roast Beef on... hmm... maybe it was... 12th St & Camelback? Help me out with this one!
I remember when Scottsdale Rd was dirt north of Bell. Bell road was dirt east of Scottsdale Rd. There was no FLW Blvd. Bell curved into Pima. There was no 101, 51, 202. It took almost an hour to drive from 35th Ave and Thunderbird to Los Arcos mall. Thunderbird to 32nd Street, left on Shea to Scottsdale Rd, right to the mall. Los Arcos still had anchor stores back then.
I went to Saguaro grade school back in the early days. 33rd Ave just north of Cactus. We used to have the school's irrigation schedule memorized during the summer. The neighborhood kids would all ride out on our bikes and spend the day lounging in what then must have felt like the Southwestern Riviera... As a child it seemed like the water was SO deep. Only now as I reminisce I realize it was only five or six inches deep, but when you're 8 that's almost enough to be fully submerged and escape the summer heat.
We used to ride our bikes EVERYWHERE. There was no such thing as Mom's Taxi back then! If we wanted to be there, we had better get our peddle on!
Drove across Camelback today from I-17 to 20th St. They are tearing down the old Beef Eaters restaurant. That was a landmark for years. Sign with picture of new building out front. In with the new.
Drove across Camelback today from I-17 to 20th St. They are tearing down the old Beef Eaters restaurant. That was a landmark for years. Sign with picture of new building out front. In with the new.
Beef Eaters hasn't been out of business that long... five or six years ago, but they died many years before. The place was a shell of it's old self, clinging on by a hair to the former glory of it's heyday.
I used to MC various events. I was hired by a local government to lead an event to be held at Beef Eaters. (must have been 2006 or 2007). I showed up to set up for the event and found the doors unceremoniously padlocked and a note on the door "Closed. Thank you for 45 wonderful years." 65 people showing up in an hour and the doors padlocked! Fortunately THEY arranged the venue, not me so there was no heat on me, but I had previewed the venue just a few days prior and the manager didn't even hint at the fact they wouldn't be there by Friday. LOL!
Ok, one last rant then I'll give it a rest for the day...
These are very regional (Sunnyslope and Moon Valley) but...
Does anyone remember Tickle Hill? It's Sweetwater Ave, a few hundred feet west of 19th Ave just next to the FOP lodge. Wind up the motor, let the clutch go and FLY over that hill. A good car (my '70 Camaro for example) could hit 45 or 50 by the top of the hill. Cresting over the peak you'd SWEAR your guts were going to fly out your mouth! ROTFLMAO! Oh the stupid things we survived when we were young...
Now how about Monkey Mountain? IIRC, it was supposed to be about Central and Cheryl Lane just south of Peoria. Urban legend had it there was a mad doctor that used to live there. He had hundreds and hundreds of monkeys and he'd do experiments on them... AND on mentally ill HUMAN patients! LOL! In the late 70's there was still a crumbling old estate there, dying palms, rusting equipment... and lots of animal cages! LOL! It's easy to see how the legend got started, but I know nothing about the true origin of the property. The myth was that the place was haunted by the souls of the mad doctor's patients, human AND primate. I can't imagine why not, but we never seemed to venture there in the daylight. It was always some hair brained 11PM sleepover party adventure. Of course it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun in the daylight, would it?
The place has since been developed into a gated community (late 80's maybe?). Would love to know the real story behind the estate though.
Ok, one last rant then I'll give it a rest for the day...
These are very regional (Sunnyslope and Moon Valley) but...
Does anyone remember Tickle Hill? It's Sweetwater Ave, a few hundred feet west of 19th Ave just next to the FOP lodge. Wind up the motor, let the clutch go and FLY over that hill. A good car (my '70 Camaro for example) could hit 45 or 50 by the top of the hill. Cresting over the peak you'd SWEAR your guts were going to fly out your mouth! ROTFLMAO! Oh the stupid things we survived when we were young...
Now how about Monkey Mountain? IIRC, it was supposed to be about Central and Cheryl Lane just south of Peoria. Urban legend had it there was a mad doctor that used to live there. He had hundreds and hundreds of monkeys and he'd do experiments on them... AND on mentally ill HUMAN patients! LOL! In the late 70's there was still a crumbling old estate there, dying palms, rusting equipment... and lots of animal cages! LOL! It's easy to see how the legend got started, but I know nothing about the true origin of the property. The myth was that the place was haunted by the souls of the mad doctor's patients, human AND primate. I can't imagine why not, but we never seemed to venture there in the daylight. It was always some hair brained 11PM sleepover party adventure. Of course it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun in the daylight, would it?
The place has since been developed into a gated community (late 80's maybe?). Would love to know the real story behind the estate though.
There was a Doctor, seems more like further North, Sunnyslope. There were all sorts of rumors. My Dad was a patent and we went there for one of those fancy, new electrocardiograms, of the day, after he had a heart attack. I was only 8 or 9 years old and it was very scary to me. It was a strange place but perhaps my age made it seem more so. Things did not work out too well. Perhaps others can contribute to this. He may have been the Doctor who built the "Castle" on about 19th Avenue and Cactus or Peoria. I think it became or was intended to be a bowling alley but turned into a furniture store or something.
Beef Eaters hasn't been out of business that long... five or six years ago, but they died many years before. The place was a shell of it's old self, clinging on by a hair to the former glory of it's heyday.
I used to MC various events. I was hired by a local government to lead an event to be held at Beef Eaters. (must have been 2006 or 2007). I showed up to set up for the event and found the doors unceremoniously padlocked and a note on the door "Closed. Thank you for 45 wonderful years." 65 people showing up in an hour and the doors padlocked! Fortunately THEY arranged the venue, not me so there was no heat on me, but I had previewed the venue just a few days prior and the manager didn't even hint at the fact they wouldn't be there by Friday. LOL!
2006 is the right date, I looked it up. Funny, I seem to remember hearing something about the event you referenced and the "unceremonious" closing, now that you tell the story.
The nice thing is, the new building (to be called the Newton after the founder of the Beef Eaters (nice touch) will house a Changing Hands bookstore, and a new restaurant from the Beckett's Table folks.
Ok, one last rant then I'll give it a rest for the day...
These are very regional (Sunnyslope and Moon Valley) but...
Does anyone remember Tickle Hill? It's Sweetwater Ave, a few hundred feet west of 19th Ave just next to the FOP lodge. Wind up the motor, let the clutch go and FLY over that hill. A good car (my '70 Camaro for example) could hit 45 or 50 by the top of the hill. Cresting over the peak you'd SWEAR your guts were going to fly out your mouth! ROTFLMAO! Oh the stupid things we survived when we were young...
Now how about Monkey Mountain? IIRC, it was supposed to be about Central and Cheryl Lane just south of Peoria. Urban legend had it there was a mad doctor that used to live there. He had hundreds and hundreds of monkeys and he'd do experiments on them... AND on mentally ill HUMAN patients! LOL! In the late 70's there was still a crumbling old estate there, dying palms, rusting equipment... and lots of animal cages! LOL! It's easy to see how the legend got started, but I know nothing about the true origin of the property. The myth was that the place was haunted by the souls of the mad doctor's patients, human AND primate. I can't imagine why not, but we never seemed to venture there in the daylight. It was always some hair brained 11PM sleepover party adventure. Of course it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun in the daylight, would it?
The place has since been developed into a gated community (late 80's maybe?). Would love to know the real story behind the estate though.
It was North Mountain Hospital (no relation to the current John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital), a private hospital at 48 Foothill Drive in Sunnyslope, and the doctor who owned it did some research involving monkeys. There was an incident in the 1970s when some freakishly intelligent human/primate hybrids that were the product of DNA-enhancement escaped from the hospital and caused havoc. (Not really, I'm just kidding about that last part.) It was owned and built by Dr. Kenneth Hall Someone wrote about what the hospital was actually like and posted a photo about halfway back in this thread on page 218 and page 621. Dr. Hall also built a castle-themed bowling alley, El Cid Lanes, that is currently a private gymnasium/athletic facility - I think it's on 19th Avenue.
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