History Adventuring

As a former teacher, I know that it's important not to be too terribly fussy about some things, or else everything you say just becomes trivia. For example, here in Phoenix I commonly hear the word "mall" when in reality a particular place is actually a "shopping center". And for legal purposes, this can be important, such as clarifying that the Arrowhead Mall is different from the Arrowhead Towne Center, but in casual conversation, I know what you mean, and there really is no difference. So when people call storm drains and canals "irrigation canals", I tend to let it go. I know what you mean - it's a thin slice of land that water goes through. If I lived by a canal, or a storm drain, I certainly wouldn't consider it "waterfront property" - in fact, that gives me a chuckle. But if you really do want to know the difference between canals and storm drains, it's simply that one takes water in, and the other takes water away. ...

If you've ever driven along Hayden Road in Scottsdale, you've seen a greenbelt that parallels it to the west. I've been fascinated by it for years, but I've never really given it a name in my mind. I'm told by people who know that it's the Indian Bend Wash. And I'm still having trouble with that name, as it seems to imply that it's only around Indian Bend Road, you know, just west of the Talking Stick Casino. To me, the wash extended along Hayden Road to McClintock Ranch, where I had a client in the early eighties that I would visit when I lived in Tempe. And that's kind of way things are to people - they exist for what they know. And I sure didn't know much! And I'm trying to learn more about that wash. Today I got an email from one of my PhD (Phoenix History Detectives) who is familiar with where it actually starts, which is east of the Phoenix Mountains, at about 32nd Street and Thunderbird. Take a look at a satellite view and you c...

As a history adventurer, I'm fascinated with the growth of cities. I live in Glendale, Arizona, which is a suburb of Phoenix, and I'm especially interested in rebirth. It's been the story of Phoenix since it began, it grows and builds on top of itself. Underneath the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Westporte Village, at 67th Avenue and Peoria, is the history of this tiny part of the Sonoran Desert, going back to the Hohokams, and the beginning of the desert, over 10,000 years ago, when the last Ice Age ended. Let's start with today. I bought the crackers and cheese that I'm eating as I write this at my local Walmart Neighborhood Market. The little shopping center is called "Westporte Village", although I've never heard anyone refer to it by that name. In fact, I've never heard anyone refer to any of the names of the shopping centers in my neighborhood, like Peoria Station, or my favorite, Ted's Plaza, which is on Olive and 47th Avenue. But ...

If you're like most normal grownups in the Phoenix area, as you drive around, you pay attention to the signs, the traffic signals, that sort of thing. If you want to get somewhere, you may look at a map, or use your GPS, following the roads. If, however, you're like me, you look at the mountains, the rivers, the canals, and the washes. Thankfully I've never had to drive all that much! If I told you that I live south of Skunk Creek, not far from the Agua Fria River, it would probably make no sense to you. I used to live along the Cave Creek Wash, south of the Arizona Canal, back in the early 90s. If that makes sense to you, you're kinda weird. And so talking about the Scottsdale Wash appeals to my weirdness, and makes a lot of people go "huh?" I'll see if I can explain what I see. Take a look at a map and strip away all of the streets, seeing only the geography. If you're looking at Scottsdale, you'll see a very prominent feature, which is a ...

Time-travel with me to a time when Firehouse Subs at Northern Crossing, 59th Avenue and Northern in Glendale, was new. That is, yesterday. Yes, I'm trying to be funny here (hopefully) but I also want to share with you what I see everywhere I go, both in real life and in cyberspace. I see history. And I don't draw an imaginary line in time, to me time flows like a river, which has always been and always will be. Yesterday, while I was enjoying a delicious sub sandwich, I spoke to the young woman who is the owner of the franchise. As always in situations like this, the conversation started with just talking about the food, and since I'm interested in the history I asked how long the business had been there. I've lived in Glendale for over twenty years, and I had never seen it, or even the building. The building had been built last October. It was all of three months old. Pretty recent history! If you're a Glendale history fan, you know that area as just acros...

Since I like trees, and live in Phoenix, Arizona, people often ask me what grows naturally there, and I point to a mesquite. You see them everywhere in Phoenix, and if you just walk past them, I understand. I've even heard of them referred to as "parking lot trees". I took that pic up there yesterday while I was sitting outside drinking coffee, and while it's a beautiful specimen of a mesquite I was aware that it seemed as if I were taking a photo of "nothing". Mesquite trees were in the Sonoran Desert long before anyone lived there. Long before the Hohokam, long before the pioneers of Phoenix. For about 10,000 years, which is when the last ice age ended, and the area became the desert that we know today. But really, they're not trees, just big bushes. When you see them around the modern streets of Phoenix you're just seeing carefully trimmed gigantic bushes. Left to grow naturally, they sprawl and stay low to the ground. To make them look mor...

Every January the car shows transform Scottsdale, Arizona into a wonderland of classic cars. If you like classic cars, like I do, it can be great fun. If you have more money than I do, you can get a bargain - that's the whole point of auctions. By far the most famous and popular classic car auction is the Barrett-Jackson, which began in 1971, and is held at WestWorld, on the polo grounds, just south of Bell Road, east of the 101. If you've never been to one of these car shows, this is the place to start. And if you're like me, you won't go to the auctions, you'll just go look at the cars. I'll tell you how it works. Several days before the auction the cars are set out for inspection. You can wander around and look at them at your leisure. No, you can't drive them around, or kick the tires, but you can do a careful inspection. Usually the sellers are there all week so you can talk to them, and there are other things to see, you know, booths that sell s...

Although I'm still young, I realize that I get older every day. Funny how that happens! And since I live in suburban Phoenix, I often would think about what I would do someday, when that day came, way in the future, when I could no longer drive. Then it came. No, I didn't suddenly turn 95, I had an accident many years ago that took away that ability (please don't ask). And during my recovery I found a lot of ways to get things done that you would normally need a car for. And I got an insight into how an elderly person who can no longer drive can continue to live in a "world of cars", like suburban Phoenix, without a car. If you're pondering this for the first time, I think that I can help. Because that's where you start, in your thoughts. Like most people in suburban Phoenix, I did everything in my car. I didn't quite drive to the end of my driveway in my car, but what I did was close to it. I drove to work, which was four blocks away, I dr...

A booster is an old-fashioned term for someone who proudly, and loudly, proclaims the virtues of their town. I like to read old books, and boosters tended to be businessmen who visited other cities, went to conventions, that sort of thing, and always made it a point to talk about how great their town is. A typical booster would grab you by the lapel and start raving about their town, saying things like, "Say buddy, haven't you ever heard of our town? Well, I declare! Where have you been? It's the fastest-growing place in the tri-county area! Just last year we installed a new water works that will..." You really don't see many old-fashioned boosters nowadays, but I'm one of them. I just love Phoenix, and I can't wait to tell you how wonderful it. "Say, do you know that it's winter and there isn't a bit of snow out there? Yessiree, you can go play golf anytime you want to, and there are plenty of golf courses!" See what I mean? Sorry...

My two favorite cities, Phoenix and Los Angeles, are very often described as "sprawling". And that's part of the reason that so many people want to live there, because everything there is wide-open and spacious. Which, of course, is what "sprawl" means. And it's the opposite of density. I have a particular horror of density. I grew up in a tiny house with way too many people in it, and too few bathrooms. My neighborhood had houses so close to each other that my mom would say that people could "pass dishes between the windows". Of course, our neighborhood wasn't as dense as some of the neighborhoods, who weren't as lucky as I was, were. We were about in the middle. Some of my friends were living in big houses, down on the Parkway, with large lots that looked as if you could get about five of our houses in the same space. I marveled at that luxury. And some of my friends lived in such crowded conditions that it made the house I lived in ...

I've always had a fascination with names. Yes, I know that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I'm still a kid, and I always wanted to know "why?" My parents put up with my questions until I was old enough to ride my bike to the library, and I continued my research there. I don't know why I feel this way, but once a question like this hits me it's an itch that I have to scratch. And then about a thousand other questions pop up, so I have to continue to research them, too. I will always be that kid, and I will never have enough to time to learn everything that I want to know, but I'm trying. What is cool about learning about the name of Tucson is that it really gets me time-traveling. So please come along with me - I could use some help with the two languages we'll need: Spanish and Pima Indian. Yes, Tucson is the Old Pueblo, but we have go back much farther in time. We need to travel back to long before the Spanish had seen this a...

I moved to Los Angeles after I got my degree at Arizona State University. My goal back then was to work for an advertising agency, so I got a tiny apartment in a "less than fashionable" part of Hollywood. The only thing I knew about LA is that the advertising agencies were on Wilshire Boulevard, and that's where my job search was conducted. If you've ever looked for a job, you know that at some point you really need a break. Yes, you can make looking for a job a full-time job, but even though I didn't have much money, I decided one day to drive out of town, by going north around the mountains. I used to do that a lot when I lived in Phoenix, and I had found that just getting away from the crowded city, and driving along some farmland, was calming to my nerves. I was in for a big surprise. I expected the city to end on the other side of the mountain, or at least slow down a bit. In the Phoenix area I could drive about ten miles and be away from any hint of t...

If you visited the Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix, which is between Van Buren and Fillmore and 3rd and 5th Streets, anytime after it was built until just recently, as it started more construction, you may have been puzzled as to why there was so much lumpy ground there. The reason is because the original design called for more buildings, that have taken over thirty years now to get started on building. If you never noticed, it's to the credit of the builders who filled in as best they could, and did a great job of it. The original design for the Arizona Center from 1985, Phoenix, Arizona. Back in the mid-nineties I often went to the Arizona Center to eat lunch. And since I worked at Bank One, which is now Chase, at Van Buren and Central, I walked over to the Arizona Center and entered the area from the southwest, at 3rd Street and Van Buren. And it was this area that really stood out for me as empty, and lumpy. It's as if another building should have been there, a...