How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Tucson: house, school)

[sablebaby]

I'm so glad this thread was created! I have always had a BAD memory of the past... and I mean Bad! But, reading these memories are bringing back my memories.

I remember the ice skating rink at MetroCenter- we went there a couple of times as class trips.

I definitely remember watching Wallace & Ladmo every morning before school.

I remember Goldwater's dept store. Haven't thought of that place in years.

I remember all the TV networks that Magnum Mike mentioned.

The things that I always remembered the most was before the SR51 was built and for a while before it came north past Shea. Back then, everyone used Shea rd to get anywhere, at least from the NE. Now, with the freeway being there it's a ghost town street. I remember never stepping foot on the freeway until I was old enough to drive as my grandmother was afraid to drive freeways. lol

I remember the area where I grew up (around the PV Mall) where every stop light was a stop sign back then. I vividly remember the intersections of 44th and 40th streets and Thunderbird being 4 way stops. Now look at the traffic!

[lostinpgh]

I remember when Rural and Elliot was a four-way stop.

I remember a canal along Guadalupe, with big cottonwoods.

I remember driving through farms between Tempe and Chandler to go visit my grandparents.

I remember a farmhouse on the northeast corner of McClintock and Elliot.

I remember Willie Day and Garrett Engine Division.

I remember that you could tell by the traffic when the ASU students went home for the summer.

A friend remembers helping her dad hammer in a "For Sale" sign at the northeast corner of Scottsdale and Shea. I think he made $2500 on the 40 acres and counted it good; he'd doubled his profits.

I remember Changing Hands when they were next to the Spaghetti Company on Mill.

I remember the Gin Blossoms at Long Wongs and at the New Years Eve party.

Whee, enough nostalgia for me, this year!

[HX_Guy]

No one here would remember this, as it's from the early 1900s, but take a look at Phoenix! This is downtown...and where you see the desert/bushes start is 7th St today. How wild is that? There was NOTHING east of 7th St and look at it today.

The first two images are from a book called Phoenix: Then and Now, which is a great book.



Same view today...

[HX_Guy]

Phoenix's original light rail system, which ran until the mid 1940s.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/1942Phoenixshot.jpg (broken link)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Early1940sStreetcarsinPhoenix.jpg (broken link)

Central Ave in 1920s
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/2002CentralAve1920s.jpg (broken link)

Downtown in 1940s

[Magnum Mike]

I like photographs like that, which were taken from the same location, but from a different era.

Here's the intersection of Filmore and Central, looking towards the south, as it appeared in the late 1920's. Note the post office building under construction on the right side of the screen.

[LadmoFan]

Wow! My Dad would remember the 1940s photo as he arrived in Phoenix during the mid 40s. I think they eventually settled on Roosevelt Avenue but I'd have to check.

Great photos and thank you,

LF

[Magnum Mike]

Here's a more recent photo. This was taken in June of 1972, while the tallest building in Arizona was still under construction, which would eventually be named the Valley Bank Tower when it opened in the spring of 1973. Of course it later became The Bank One Tower, then Chase Tower. You can also see Valley Bank's old building just across the street on Monroe, to the south of the new 40-story tower.

I'll have to find pictures of other downtown buildings when they were under consttruction, I remember seeing pictures of the US Bank Tower while it was still under construction. It was formerly the Arizona Bank Tower when it originally openned in 1976, then it became the Bank Of America Tower until 2001.

On the left side in the picture close towards the bottom, you can see the building that was torn down 33 years after this picture was taken, and was replaced by the new 44 Monroe Tower, which is still under construction, and of course the site of what was to be the 31-story Arizona Bank Tower across the street on Monroe.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

I like photographs like that, which were taken from the same location, but from a different era.

Here's the intersection of Filmore and Central, looking towards the south, as it appeared in the late 1920's. Note the post office building under construction on the right side of the screen.

The photo must have been taken in 1932, or after, as the post office was built between 1932 and 1936. Also, the Valley National Bank building seen in the picture (at Central and Monroe) was built in 1931 and can already be seen in the picture.

I agree with you on pictures showing before and after from the same vantage point, check out that book I mentioned...the book is filled from front to back with before and after photos just like that.

I've taken quite a few pictures of downtown and just in the past couple of years there are some big changes, it will be nice to look back in 10, 20, or 30 years from the same viewpoints.

Here are a couple shots taken from the same spot.

[_Charles_]

I moved to the Valley in 1986 and caught the tail end of the old Valley and Phoenix the way it used to be. The Valley still had an air of small town charm and joi d'vire - now long gone. Thinking of that always make me wish I had moved here sooner.

[aj661]

Damn! They should have kept those suckers and pulled them out of mothballs. It would have saved us a ton of money!

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Phoenix's original light rail system, which ran until the mid 1940s.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/1942Phoenixshot.jpg (broken link)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/Phoenix/Early1940sStreetcarsinPhoenix.jpg (broken link)