Last week's gallery of the 1940s was so wildly popular, let's continue on a theme. For readers, I produced columns on Phoenix in the 1950s and the 1960s. I invite you to read them, for they provide important context and history of the photos that follow (images that didn't make the original decade columns). Thanks to Brad Hall for most of these.
Enjoy! (Click on image to see a larger version):
Overhead and in color, Phoenix in 1956. In the lower part of the photo are the Southern Pacific tracks and the Warehouse District. In the middle-left is Phoenix Union High School, including Montgomery Stadium. Camelback is bare of any houses, a situation that won't last long.
Roosevelt Row was decades in the future when Birch's Drugs was snapped in 1953. It was part of a larger commercial strip along east Roosevelt and easily walkable from the Evans-Churchill and Garfield neighborhoods.
Another walkable spot. Tenth Street and McDowell, part of the "Miracle Mile" commercial district in the 1950s.
The northwest corner of Indian School and Central shows A.J. Bayless, Bekins moving and storage, and Carnation Dairy's restaurant, soda fountain, and main processing plant. It's 1957.
A tourism advertisement for Phoenix. The "Valley of the Sun" motto originated in the 1930s.
To orient yourself. In the '50s and '60s, the city and towns were still separated by rural land. When this map was printed, south Phoenix wasn't part of the city of Phoenix.
The iconic Goodyear sign, a baby Black Canyon Freeway, and a Santa Fe freight train paralleling Grand Avenue in the 1960s.
Bob's Big Boy, the center of cruising Central, at Central and Thomas. The building under construction is one of the two Mayer towers, this one the tall skyscraper for First Federal Savings and Loan.
Here's the completed Mayer Corporate Center. An outside elevator was the highlight of the First Federal tower. The short building housed a Playboy Club on the top floor.
Inside the Playboy Club in 1967.
Uptown Plaza, soon after its completion in the 1950s.
A concert at the bandshell at Encanto Park.
Luke Air Force Base, 1952. Phoenix was bracketed by Air Force installations, the other being Williams Air Force Base southeast of Mesa. Both focused on pilot training.
A newspaper clipping of Ike during a campaign trip in 1952. The former five-star general became the first Republican to carry Arizona in history.
Central and Adams Street in the 1950s, at downtown's height as the central business and retail district. Note the short-lived X-crossing.
The Rodeo of Rodeos Parade passes the Hotel Westward Ho in 1959 (Clarence L. Zinn Collection).
The Arizona State College — future ASU — homecoming parade in downtown Phoenix, 1956.
Looking south on Central Avenue from Van Buren Street. The modernist addition to the Security Building hadn't been added, nor the rotating Valley National Bank sign. Circa 1955 (Brad Hall collection).
The Hotel Adams in the mid-1960s. "Coffee Ho" was the rebranded coffee shop on the first floor, where the Legislature still conducted business. The railroad ticket office is gone, but Bonanza Air Lines has one. Note the Valley National Bank's revolving sign, which could be seen for miles in neon at night (Brad Hall collection).
The State Capitol building in shady, cooled grounds in the 1950s, before the brutalist 1974 Executive Tower.
A decade later the grounds were still beautiful but the on-the-cheap House and Senate chambers had been added. Much of the residential neighborhood to the west (top) remains intact.
In 1954, this became the first franchise McDonald's to open outside California. It was also the first with golden arches. Located on Central just south of Indian School, this McDonald's stood until the 1980s. It was demolished for a skyscraper that was never built.
An overhead of downtown in the 1950s. Demand for parking had already taken a toll on the fabric of the city.
Central and Adams Street looking north. My mother worked in the Heard Building (left) for the Arizona Interstate Stream Commission, lead state agency in fighting for the Central Arizona Project.
The fabric of small business endured downtown. This is the southeast corner of Central and Van Buren with its 24-hour coffee shop, soon to be leveled for the Valley Center skyscraper (now Chase Tower).
Central and Washington looking north. The Professional Building shows the iconic revolving neon Valley National Bank sign. When Valley Center was completed, the sign was hauled to a junkyard.
Downtown at night, looking south on Central from Fillmore Street. The First National Bank building became the Arizona Public Service headquarters. Now it's the main building of ASU's expanding downtown campus.
The Sahara Hotel at 401 N. First Street downtown. It's now the site of ASU's Thunderbird School.
The Sahara interior in the 1960s. KRUX radio's studio was in the offices facing First Street.
This shot is of the Sahara under construction in 1955, with the First National Bank headquarters, right, and Security Building, left, with the new penthouse on top for Valley National Bank President Walter Bimson.
A parade on Central featuring the drum corps of Phoenix Indian High School.
Shady two-lane Seventh Street and Rose Lane in the 1960s (Duke University Libraries).
Maryvale Community Hospital, recruited by John F. Long for his growing subdivisions.
A John Birch Society bookstore at 18th Avenue and Camelback Road in the 1960s. Phoenix was a hotbed for the far-right organization.
Turf Paradise. Before the tribal casinos, the horse and greyhound tracks were the only places that allowed betting in Arizona (Brad Hall collection).
Phoenix's growing GOP majority didn't stop Robert F. Kennedy from campaigning at Chris-Town Mall in March 1968. He would be assassinated a little more than a month later.
Still unmarred by houses, this is Camelback Mountain in the early 1960s. It would take a grassroots effort by Barry Goldwater and money from the federal government to preserve the upper part of the landmark. Note the expansive citrus groves.
Phoenix's own amusement park, Legend City, opened in the 1960s on east Washington Street.
Construction of Rosenzweig Center south of Indian School on Central. Note the McDonald's. (Courtesy of Lawrence DeLeon Sr.). This office complex was located on the original Rosenzweig family homestead.
A new subdivision in Deer Valley (Photo courtesy of Jean Laninga).
A rainbow over downtown Phoenix, circa 1960 (Brad Hall collection).
Long before it was overtaken by sprawl, Superstition Mountain in the 1960s.
RELATED: More midcentury Phoenix.
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My book, A Brief History of Phoenix, is available to buy or order at your local independent bookstore, or from Amazon.
Read more Phoenix history in Rogue's Phoenix 101 archive.
Worked on the fourteenth floor of the First Federal Savings building. (Mayer corp center) used to have paper airplane contests. Winner landed on Park Central roof !
Lunched at Ivanhoe, sadly with lowlifes who killed Boles.
Lunched at Big Boys. Boss left nickel tips. We left more once he was out of building ahead of us. They don't grow big tippers in eastern New Mexico.
Lots of lunches at Miracle Mile deli now make me a regular at my cardiologist.
Posted by: AzRebel | February 04, 2020 at 04:12 PM
"Lunched at Ivanhoe..."
Could I bother you (or anyone else) for a physical description of this place, I've never seen street level pictures of that area.
Posted by: 100 Octane | February 04, 2020 at 04:42 PM
I believe it was ground level of the building with the Playboy club. Kind of towards the side and back near the parking garage. It was a place where if you took a photo, you and the camera wouldn't fare well.
Posted by: AzRebel | February 04, 2020 at 04:49 PM
I can't keep silent any longer with all this nostalgia.
I was born in Phoenix in August of 1937. try to find many "true natives" of my age. I remember all the photos from the last two posts.
My father and his parents, brother, sisters and the family came to Phoenix in 1920 so my Grandfather would be able to survive his "consumption", he promptly died six months later.
I would walk form 7th St. and Portland to 10thst in the late forties, catch the streetcar to Washington and go to the Strand or Rialto for 2 Movies, three serial and the Movietown News. Imagine a nine or ten year old doing that today.
Posted by: Ramjet | February 04, 2020 at 05:03 PM
I guess I was too "windy" to post the whole thing.
I cruised Central before Bob's Big Boy was there. we had a regular circuit that began at the Three Palms {our office} and included the Polar Bar and Northtown. Our motto was Slopers beware.
Posted by: Ramjet | February 04, 2020 at 05:08 PM
Bolles. My apology. He deserves proper spelling.
Posted by: AzRebel | February 04, 2020 at 05:22 PM
Great stuff, Jon. As a History major I really enjoy the photos and your commentary.
Posted by: James McAllister | February 04, 2020 at 05:58 PM
AzRebel, yes the address is the same but I never made to connection, thank you.
Posted by: 100 Octane | February 04, 2020 at 06:23 PM
Great stuff. Thanks. Any chance of a higher resolution photo of Uptown Plaza back in the day? I do remember the Gautier bookstore right across the street to the west.
Posted by: David Huizingh | February 04, 2020 at 08:08 PM
I wonder if the old Maryvale Community Hospital building is still around? I don't recognize it.
My youngest brother was born in the larger Maryvale Hospital that was built later, and my mom worked as a nurse there for a few years. The County now owns it, and has turned it into a behavioral health hospital.
Maybe, like a lot of hospitals, the original building is still there, but is unrecognizable due to remodeling and facility expansion?
Posted by: Kevin in Preskitt | February 04, 2020 at 10:02 PM
Roger you are one old timer. I rolled in here in 1950 and frequented many of the places in downtown Phoenix shown here. In 56 Jon Sellers (Bolles Homicide detective) wrote me my first ticket at Bob’s Big Boy for pipes after I down shifted the 59 Chevy 348 making the windows shake. I did Three Palms, the Polar bar and Jerry’s drive in. And along with my Mexican Amigos y Amiga’s we did Riverside Ball room on Chicano night. I seldom went to Sarge’s Cowtown primarily because it was filled with plastic gringos.
In 59 I had my last fight in the vacant lot behind McDonald's at Central and Indian School. Jimmy P better known as the King of Buckeye and I wailed on three North High supposed bad asses until they broke and ran but not before hitting Jim in the head with a 2 by 4. And then of course there was Ciot’s ballroom where you could watch the boys from North High try and intimidate everyone. A bad rumor had it that Jack Elam lost his eye in a fight at Ciot’s. Jack was born in Globe and died in Oregon. After Jack and Richard Boone passed I became America’s ugliest dude. In between McDonalds and Ciot’s was an outdoor type restaurant. Maybe a German beer garden. I can’t recall if it had a skating rink or a dance floor. And I ate at the original Woody’s El Nido and I think somewhere there is a photo of my 59 Chevy parked out front. I never got to go to Bert Easley’s Fun Shop and the law did him wrong but the store survived until 2018 after 72 years.
As Ruben posted on the previous blog, I have a preference for ladies. (Y tambien Moreno.) That’s why last time Ruben and I had coffee in Payson I was accompanied by my lady of 12 years. I have yet to meet Ruben’s lady. That said, Ed Abbey and I both favored his book, Black Sun.
Mi Amiga tan linda was born in Miami, Arizona in 36 and grew up at 13 street and Pierce. She attended Phoenix Union. She recalls most of the places listed here and previous blogs. Her sister has never left the area of downtown Phoenix and currently lives in Willow. Both have read Jon’s Brief History of Phoenix.
If someone would give Jon $ 50 grand I think we could get him to write a Huge History of “The Valley of the Sun.” Leaving out the development of championship golf courses of course.
Thanks for the history Jon, Keep Scribbling. Hopefully a new Mystery, soon?
Posted by: Cal Lash | February 04, 2020 at 10:51 PM
Please note my above writing "my lady" is only as to the love of my life.
Posted by: Cal Lash | February 04, 2020 at 11:37 PM
True confession: when I was a child, I was Phoenix's biggest booster. I delighted in seeing orchards and farmland plowed under for new housing tracts and strip malls. When a priceless old mansion was torn down (often by my salvage-happy father), it signaled something new and exciting, maybe even lit with neon. The arc of progress eventually stalled, but in the mid-60s I thought I lived in the best place anywhere.
You can see in the pictures how raw Phoenix really was at the time. Major arterials like north 7th Avenue or west Camelback didn't even have sidewalks in the '50s. A derelict night club, Rosenzweig Ballroom looked like a nightmare surrounded by tamarisk trees. Prior to Park Central, a dairy and drive-in were, at best, placeholders for something better. Then the Big Bright Tomorrow exploded with dazzling effect. Skyscrapers rose where just a few years earlier cows had grazed. My juvenile mind boggled. Central Avenue was even decked out with landscaped medians. Time Magazine and Newsweek both had big stories about the "miracle in the desert", which I read and reread to savor every detail of our phoenix-like transformation.
That metamorphosis took away some stunning jewels but replaced them with tall buildings, cars, and "sophistication". Instead of making excuses for a few lingering eyesores and musty antiques, we showed visiting relatives the Guaranty Bank Building, the tallest high-rise in Phoenix and just barely inside the city limits of the time. True, you couldn't really walk anywhere, but that's what made it so good. Soon, Phoenix would look like midtown Manhattan once all the vacant lots were filled in.
That never quite happened, sorry to say. Still, I remember pleasures like Coffee Dan's at Park Central, ice cream at the Carnation Dairy, jazz at the Amsterdam House, movies at the Palms Theater, and one of the most spectacular vistas in all of Phoenix at the SEC of Central & Bethany Home where an old hacienda surrounded by an orchard was backdropped by the glorious if politically incorrect Squaw Peak. You had to be there to know just how wonderful it all was.
Posted by: soleri | February 05, 2020 at 07:21 AM
You guys are simply amazing. The next time the coffee clutch meets i need to get off my golf car and drive to wherever you gather and worship at your knee. Seriously good stuff.
This summer i wrote a 19 piece Reader's Digest type history for the Webb Museum. It covered Del Webb's life and the development of Sun City. As i look at these old photo's, i recognize several of them from my research.
I suspect he was the most active builder in Phoenix and the state of AZ. We have a listing at the museum of all his projects by state and i will pop down and take a look at his local buildings to see which ones he did.
I did find this cut by Bradford Luckingham in his book Phoenix: The History of a Southwestern Metropolis . It was quoted in Del Webb, The Man, The Company: "There was more construction in Phoenix in 1959 than in all the years from 1914 to 1946 combined. In that year a total of 5,060 dwellings, mostly single-family residences were constructed, along with 429 swimming pools, 115 office buildings, 94 stores, 115 office buildings, and 15 educational facilities. Each year, records were broke in practically every category as the city experienced phenomenal growth."
Staggering numbers by anyone's measure.
Posted by: Bill Pearson | February 05, 2020 at 08:28 AM
What year was that map published? People look at me funny when I tell them that the towns (now cities) were separated and there was a lot of dirt roads where there are now large communities.
Posted by: Roger | February 05, 2020 at 09:22 AM
Like Soleri, I must confess, too. When I left Phoenix in 1978, I thought it was the best city.
But then I lived in San Diego, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Denver. I had visited Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and NYC. Real cities.
When I returned to Phoenix in 2000, I was horrified at the destruction of my "American Eden" — the loss of shade trees, citrus groves, grass, replaced by gravel and skeleton trees. The destruction of the urban fabric in the central core and movement out to the supersize suburbs.
The scales fell from my eyes.
Posted by: Rogue Columnist | February 05, 2020 at 10:35 AM
Suprised?
Migration is a natural occurring PHENOMENON.
Man just thinks he is smarter.
Posted by: Cal Lash | February 05, 2020 at 01:01 PM
The Desert
In Memory of Frank Herbert
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/al-madam-abandoned-village-uae/index.html
Posted by: Cal Lash | February 05, 2020 at 01:11 PM
Regarding that city map, it shows the Black Canyon Freeway complete to just south of Olive, and according to the Arizona DOT, completion to that spot occurred in November 1960. The 1952 Sky Harbor Terminal (later known as Terminal 1) is there, but the 1962 Terminal 2 is not. So I think 1961 is a reasonable date for the map.
On Tuesday, February 4, the last flights operated out of Terminal 2, and that evening there was a closing ceremony. I attended, since I had also attended the opening festivities in 1962. When Terminal 2 opened, airport officials stated that it would suffice for our air travel needs until 2000. That proved wildly inaccurate, as the city felt compelled to add Terminal 3 in 1979 and Terminal 4 in 1990.
If you haven't already, be sure to visit the collection of historic Terminal 2 photos at the AZ Central site:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/airlines/2020/02/05/phoenix-sky-harbor-airport-terminal-2-history-now-closed/2856850001/
Holy cow. There was a time when one dressed up to fly!
Posted by: Joe Schallan | February 06, 2020 at 12:54 AM
Note Olive Road became Dunlap in Phoenix in the 60's. Until you get to Glendale.
Named after Judge Dunlap.
Posted by: Cal Lash | February 06, 2020 at 09:56 AM
In that cow pasture/dairy acreage that became Park Central, a temple shall be built that epitomizes the never-ending glory of what we most deeply value:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/real-estate/catherine-reagor/2020/02/06/arizona-biggest-parking-garage-going-up-midtown-phoenix-park-central/4641922002/
Posted by: soleri | February 06, 2020 at 10:16 AM
WOW, WOW, WOW!
Building the largest parking garage in AZ , RIGHT NEXT TO THE LIGHT RAIL, is the final nail in the citie's coffin.
The folks in charge are showing that they will ride their cars on the streets and highways to hell before they ever change their ways.
You all have a choice, go along with them or vote with your feet and leave.
Posted by: AzRebel | February 06, 2020 at 11:47 AM
Ruben, (AZrebel) why are you still Joe Smith country?
Posted by: Cal Lash | February 06, 2020 at 01:21 PM
That was Show Low.
Payson is free of the cult.
Posted by: AzRebel | February 06, 2020 at 02:35 PM
You might want to Google some of your government folks
Posted by: Cal Lash | February 06, 2020 at 03:23 PM
My inlaws started a restaurant called the Blue Grotto in 1947 at Roosevelt and 7th Avenue in a house they lived in. Survived as a fairly well known Italian restaurant until the 70's. Would like to find pictures of it.
Posted by: Chip Kotzmann | March 19, 2020 at 01:56 PM
These photos bring back a lot memories i went to West Phoenix one year 1952-53 then Phoenix technical High School & Street and Van Buran well there worked at Korricks Dept store.
Took care Ed Korricks yard where my mother worked taking care daughter Windy and cleaning house.
Posted by: William Franklin Walters | November 03, 2020 at 11:45 AM
Does anyone remember the name of the night club on 24th st and Camelback Rd. Jerry Lewis was a part owner and it burned down in the early 50's. I think it was named Coco's.
I'm also trying to remember the name of the downtown restaurant that had a backbar with a live monkey behind a glassed in jungle like area.
Posted by: Lowry | July 16, 2021 at 11:29 PM
Jon, your talent and skill in touching our fondest memories of what used to be our fabulous, and largely unknown oasis in the desert is extraordinary. I and my family ate at Bob’s Big Boy on Central and Thomas Road as our first meal in Arizona, as we arrived in Phoenix in 1961. Coming from New York, my father was shocked when the young waitress offered him coffee before we ate.Villa Nova on Camelback and 7th Ave. became our favorite place to hang out as teenagers, The Islands restaurant on 7th Street was our place to impress a date while in High School at West High (19th Ave.). We miss ya, Jon, and so appreciate your photos and narrative bringing smiles to so many of us. Thank you, greatly...
Posted by: Chick Arnold | February 05, 2023 at 09:04 AM
You are a treasure, Jon!
Thank you for (properly) tagging the annual Phoenix-Jaycee-produced March event as Rodeo of Rodeos. As publicity advisor at that time, I named it thus in order to (deservedly) signify that it was the biggest and best show in its field.Through The Phoenix Community Welfare Foundation it supported many good causes in The Valley. . . . and, alas, the name "stuck" until its eventual surrender to the "gods" of Big-city culture.
Posted by: Allan Starr | February 05, 2023 at 10:19 AM
I was 9 years old when my family moved to Phoenix from a very small town in Indiana.We lived in a house at a 2034 E .Roosevelt st.The first Christmas we shoped on the Miracle Mile.We bought our groceries at Paul West's Market.I'm not sure where that was.Maybe around Van Burden and 20 th st?.This was in 1957.I never have been able to find it.Any ideas?I went to William Machan grade school.I think that's still on Virginia.I haven't been back in that area in many years.Is Perry Pool still around?
Posted by: Carol Owings | February 07, 2023 at 11:22 PM
There was a guy in the 60s who would post signs all over town telling you how far that particular location was from the center of town, They were hand painted on lids from tar cans. For example, 5N, 6W would mean you were 5 miles north and 6 miles west of the center of Phoenix. His name was on the bottom of each sign, German as I recall. They were wired to fences, posts, etc. Anybody remember his name?
Posted by: Dave Pela | February 22, 2023 at 01:44 PM
The guy who made the paint lid signs was Denny Gleeson (SP). They were titled "Why Get Lost".
Posted by: KEN buxton | April 08, 2023 at 01:29 PM
Worked at the McDonalds on Central Avenue when I was 16...that was 1972. My dad and the owner were members of the Phoenix JC's, so that's how I got the job. $1.30 an hour!
Posted by: Nick Keizer | May 14, 2023 at 04:33 AM
I was born in Phoenix in 1935. Lived at 16 th St. and Earll Drive. Went to Creighton and Machan grade schools, and North Phoenix High School and Phoenix College. Then went to work for the PUHS School District. Married and raised my kid here and am enjoying my “golden years” in retirement.
Posted by: Ann Richey Kosin | June 08, 2023 at 11:12 AM
My great grandfather, John Hall, owned all the land from Turney to Indian School and from Central to 7th ave. I believe he made the purchase sometime in the late 20s to early 30s. He was able to buy the land for $25 an acre and an old milk cow. He sold some of the land to the government after world war II so they could build houses for returning soldiers so they could buy them for a dollar down. He then sold some of the land on Central avenue to Carnation dairy and restaurant. He also sold the land for the beakins moving company and storage. The original Livia's Italian restaurant also purchased their land from my grandfather as well and was right next door to the house that my great-grandfather built with 18-in thick Adobe walls. Makes me wish the family had held on to the remaining property, then our family would have some definite generational wealth.
Posted by: Scarlett Willis | September 09, 2023 at 09:29 PM