How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Mesa: drivers license, racist)

[Paul M.]

Originally Posted by Arizona Mike

I remember soda fountains being a lot more common in department stores and drugstores and groceries back then. The McCrory's in the middle of Thomas Mall had a big one

IIRC, the Woolworth's at Christown had a soda fountain/lunch counter back in the day as well.

[Paul M.]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

My grandfather lived at various places along Van Buren and I would go swimming in the ditch; at that time there were no iron grills protecting kids from going under a road. I still remember how dirty the canals were out at 59th Avenue, the debris in the fast flowing water would sting like a hundred insects biting.

Roosevelt, about what time frame are we talking about here? 1940's? 50's?

The reason I ask this is that I'm doing some research on a few of the "historic" canals in the PHX area (pioneer canals that are no longer in use, unlike the Grand & the Arizona canals), and of course the very first one was the Salt River Valley Canal, aka Swilling's Ditch, aka Town Ditch.

The western portion of that canal ran along Van Buren, on the south side of the road from about 3rd Ave, all the way to the Agua Fria River.

So if you swam in a canal along the south side of Van Buren near 59th Ave, I'm assuming it was the Salt River Valley Canal.

I know this canal was built in the 1870's, but I'm trying to figure out exactly when it was discontinued/taken out of service as an irrigation canal. Most of these old canals were eventually piped, buried, and used for storm drainage.

Knowing when you swam in it while it was an open irrigation canal will help me with this.

Thanks...

[desertratz]

Originally Posted by Arizona Mike

I remember soda fountains being a lot more common in department stores and drugstores and groceries back then. The McCrory's in the middle of Thomas Mall had a big one, and we used to eat at the soda fountain at the drug store next to Bayless on 32nd and McDowell all the time. There was a spinning rack of paperbacks right next to the counter, so you could peruse through the books while you were waiting for an order. They also had those napkin dispensers where you could drop a penny in it, pull down a lever, and get a pop-up fortune telling. We used to go the the soda fountain at the Desert Pharmacy at 24th and Indian School as well.

I was going to the Monestary as late as the 1980s to hang out with college buddies and play volleyball - very fun place.

Pete's Fish and Chips, at least, is still there on 44th and Indian School: http://www.petesfishandchips.com/men...4th_Street.pdf

There's a Monastery on McKellips Rd in Mesa by Falcon Field with volleyball also, maybe the same outfit in a different location. Very cool place to go! The Monastery, Mesa Arizona - A Great Neighborhood Pub!

[elcajones]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

Looking at the car under the billboard in the middle, it's a 1971 Chevrolet Impala, so that picture was probably taken sometime in the early 1970s.

Central And Osborn - The one curved building on the right, used to have Western Savings' logo at the top and I think that was where their headquarters were - Several buildings that have been around in that area for a long time have been renovated in recent years, but this building needs to be either torn down or renovated. It has looked the same for as long as I can remember. I drove by there less than a week ago and in my opinion, it's an eye-sore. I'm not sure who the architect was that came up with that design on the south side of the building, but it's in serious need for a change. I'm sure the design looked modern back in the day when it was built, but now it looks like something out of a Flintstones cartoon! LOL.. This is a more recent picture of Central & Osborn and it doesn't look like it has changed since it was built.

I always thought that was a cool building. I did a month long renovation job at the high rise you can see on the left a little over a year ago.

[elcajones]

Originally Posted by chaparrito

You had to make sure your car was clean before taking it to Scheib's. They'd paint right over the dirt!

LOL there still is one in my home town of El Cajon, CA. I have heard horror stories. They do basically zero prep.

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by elcajones

LOL there still is one in my home town of El Cajon, CA. I have heard horror stories. They do basically zero prep.

There was (is?) an Earl Scheib in Santa Monica with a big picture of a grinning Earl Scheib out front on the sign. Some disgruntled customer came by and threw a bucket of paint on his face one night. You could see the paint residue for years afterwards.

[jukebox47]

I had my old 1950 Ford pickup painted at Earl Scheib around 1967 or so. All the $29.95 colors were ugly - ugly. I wanted bright red. That was $49.95. They wanted to fix all the small dents etc. for more. I just could barely afford paint. It came out really nice but the masking job was not too good and paint went where it should not have in a few places but overall I was happy and it lasted a long time.

[hotashell]

dos anyone remember when the west side wasn't creepy? when did anyone first percieve it going downhill?

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by elcajones

I always thought that was a cool building. I did a month long renovation job at the high rise you can see on the left a little over a year ago.

There's nothing wrong with the north (front) side of the building, it does have a unique look, it's the side facing south, they should at least change the color to something different than the white, yet allow the color to still show the "punch-card" windows, like a light brown color.

The building you mentioned had a turquoise blue color and if I remember correctly, United Bank of Arizona was the primary tenant. I'm not sure whose logo is on the high-rise now.

[Magnum Mike]

Not too long ago, I drove on the short stretch of Campbell from Central to 7th Ave, which was one of the streets on my paper route, mainly The Arizona Republic and sometimes The Phoenix Gazette on some afternoons when I was 14. The streets where my paper route included Minnezona to the north, down to Turney or Glenrosa to the south, and Central to 7th Ave. The neighborhood hasn't changed that much since the early 1970s, in fact the city has not put in sidewalks on Campbell, it's still dirt on both sides. I also remember Roma Ave one block south of Campbell, they're still the same quiet streets they've always been. That area has been designated as part of the historic district of Phoenix.

One block north of Campbell, which is Minnezona, it has the canal right next to it and it was a dirt road at the time, it's paved now. I also remember a lot of the houses on both sides of the canal got flooded in June of 1972.