Visiting Phoenix, Arizona in 1961


As someone who has always had a particular fascination with the 1960s, I thought that it would be fun to do an imaginary visit to Phoenix in the first year of that decade, and see how the "happy days" of the 1950s transitioned into the "swinging sixties".

I'll start with a Hallcraft Home in 1961. The one at the top of this post, at 4219 W. Marlette, is a great example. And although to our eyes it might look classic, or even quaint, I see some stylish stuff there, especially the "swoop" over the door. My understanding is that these homes were very well made. And my best guess on the picket fence there in the front was just decoration, or to keep out rabbits that couldn't jump very high.


The Black Canyon Freeway (Interstate 17) was under construction in 1961. And if you've ever wondered if it was a big storm drain, it was. It had the dual purpose of being a freeway, and pumping water away during flooding. Usually it worked fine, sometimes it didn't, and it created a mess.


President John F. Kennedy visited Phoenix in 1961. Here's his motorcade going north on Central Avenue towards Adams. The two buildings there in the background are still there, the Heard Building (although they took down the radio towers) and the Professional Building (then Valley National Bank, now the Hilton Garden Inn).


The really big news in town in 1961 was Chris-Town Mall, at Bethany Home Road and 19th Avenue. It must have been absolutely amazing - especially the air conditioning!


Courtesy Chevrolet, at 1233 E. Camelback Road, is still there, as is the sign. In 1961 this couple was buying a Nova. I suppose a Corvette would have been too flashy for them!


The new Federal Building, which is at 1st Avenue and Monroe, was completed in 1961. It replaced the old Federal Building, which went back to Territorial Days.


On December 30th of 1961 Legend City had its groundbreaking. That's Ladmo in the big hat, of the children's local TV show "Wallace and Ladmo".


In 1961 the Phoenix Police had these police cars. Not sure, but I think they're Ramblers? Edit thanks to the Maryvale Man - see comment below. They're Studebakers!


And here are some students in 2nd grade at Sunnyslope Elementary in 1961. Cute kids.


The actor (who later became president) Ronald Reagan, was the spokesman for John F. Long homes. Here he is with John in 1961. The house is 5608 W. Indian School Road.

That was fun! Thank you for visiting Phoenix in 1961 with me!

If you liked this article, and would like to see more in the future, please consider becoming a patron of History Adventuring on Patreon. If you're already a patron, thank you! Your pledge makes this happen!

 Click here to become a Patron!

Comments

  1. Maryvale ManSeptember 4, 2019 at 7:10 AM

    Those Police Cars are Studebakers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 28, 2020 at 3:00 PM

    Wondering what private residence Kennedy spent the at night @? Phx country club?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brad HallMarch 28, 2020 at 3:09 PM

    My best guess is the Westward Ho - there are lots of pics of him there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownOctober 7, 2020 at 8:44 PM

    He might of stayed at the Wigwam resort
    I cut class 7th grade to stand along the sidewalk and yell and wave as my president passed by.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why cars in the future won't need stop signs, red lights, or stripes on the road

Image
Time-travel with me into the future. Where we're going, we'll still need roads, but our cars won't need the kind of stuff that human drivers need, like stop signs, or stuff painted on the road. And if you're already panicking that computers will take over, don't worry, they already have. The fact that you're reading this right now combines so much amazing computing power that it would have been unthinkable to anyone in the 1960s, or '70s, when I was a kid. Speaking of being in the geriatric age group, if you're like me or older, you took a lot of pride in knowing the rules of the road, such as what to do at a stop sign if four cars approach at the same time, the difference between a "yield" sign and a "merge" sign, or maybe how to parallel park. But calm down there old-timer, that type of knowledge will just be as quaint as how to use a horse and buggy is nowadays. Sorry! The best way to picture how traffic will flow in the future is ...
Read more

Watching a neighborhood grow and change in Phoenix, Arizona

Image
I stopped to take a closer look yesterday at where the old Circle K had been in my neighborhood, which is a suburb of Phoenix. And it's got me to thinking about how much Phoenix grows and changes over the years, and how people feel about it. This particular neighborhood was built in the mid 1980s, when there had been only a smattering of houses and a community college (Glendale Community College, built in 1965). There are some houses that I can tell are from the 1970s, and a few even older, but what happened here is that the neighborhood suddenly appeared in 1985 or thereabouts. There are three shopping centers on the corner of 67th Avenue and Peoria - the one in the photo is called "Peoria Station", and it was designed to kinda look like a train station. The other three are called Westporte Village, Brittany Square, and Crossroads Plaza. I've lived in this neighborhood for a very long time, and no one ever uses those names, even though the signs are still up. But the...
Read more

Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?

Image
As someone who has been interested in history since I was a little kid, I've always asked the most childish questions, and quite often never got an answer. As a kid, I was told to run along and play, and don't bother the grownups, so I set my questions aside to work on when I myself became a grownup. But some questions I really haven't found a satisfactory answer for, and get thrown away as I find myself learning the more important stuff. I now understand the grownups, but the kid in me still has childish questions like "Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?" The first question to ask is whether a particular style (whether hair, clothing, etc.) was in style at the time. The moustache was, and you can Google a photo of Charlie Chaplin, who wore the same style of moustache at the time, and quite stylishly. The wide lapels were in style in the 1930s, as was were the tall shirt collars and small ties. But the haircut wasn't - it's just awful. Me...
Read more