Walking down alleys in old-time Phoenix


I've always enjoyed walking down alleys. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of walking down the alley behind my grandma's house in Bovey, Minnesota. It wasn't very pretty, and the grownups would only use it to take out the trash, or to drive through to park their cars in the back. It was my very first "road less traveled" that was easy to get to.

Yes, I know alleys are dangerous. In addition to people who were lurking in the dark corners, there were always barking dogs. I was once confronted by an angry dog in an alley in Los Angeles, who had jumped his fence. He stood there looking at he for an instant or so, then I could see that he regretted the move as if to say, "hey, my dog food is back there! How am I gonna get back in?" Since my heart nearly stopped that day it's a vivid memory. I think that it was at about that time that I started spending less time wandering down alleys.

Melinda's Alley in 1896. You're looking northeast to 1st Street and Monroe towards Camelback Mountain.

Nowadays I walk down alleys in my imagination, in old-time Phoenix. There were a lot of them, and while they really weren't official streets, over 100 years ago houses and businesses lined them. The most famous one was called Melinda's Alley, which ran east and west between Monroe and Adams. Originally it ran all of the way through town, from 7th Avenue all of the way to 7th Street. It was also called Adams Alley, and also Our Alley as it went by the Heard Building, and the Occidental Boarding House, where Ichabod was.

Cactus Alley, also called Cactus Way, ran north and south between Central Avenue and 1st Street. Its claim to fame was it where Loring's Bazar (yes, he spelled it that way) was, on Washington. Later it's where the Ellingson Building was, where Donofrio's was.

Looking towards Wall Street (Valley Bank is the building right behind the man's head). They're standing on the northeast corner of 1st Avenue and Washington. The fire hydrant is still there.

Another alley that ran north and south was called Wall Street. It was between Central Avenue and 1st Avenue. It was just a short alley, where the banks were. I can't imagine that it was anything but a smile and a wink name. But people knew where it was.

Gold Alley
Gold Alley

China Alley

Over where the ballpark is now is where Gold Alley was, on the hispanic side of town. And there was China Alley near Jackson and 3rd Street. And there was Broadway, which was an alley that ran east-west between Adams and Washington.

Broadway

Phoenix is a fairly modern city, but why exactly the streets were laid out to be so wide really makes no sense to me. I mean, in 1870 it isn't as if they were planning on cars, and buses, and multiple lanes. But that's how they were laid out. It just made sense to use what were laid out as alleys as streets. Of course as Phoenix grew the alleys just became alleys.
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