Old Street Scenes

[427TJ]

Highway 99 from Bakersfield to L.A., the "Ridge Route," c1945:



Jackson, California c1960 (southeast of Sacramento):



Manteca, California Dodge dealership c70:



Van Nuys California Schwinn dealer c70:

[427TJ]

Wall Drug, SD, c1960 with '55 Crown Vic at lower left:



Williams Arizona Route 66:



Highway 299 through Willow Creek in northern California, c60:

[427TJ]

Here's a special scene for me. This is McDonald Avenue in Richmond California in 1956. The big building across the street on the right is the old Wells Fargo bank where my mother did the family banking. Kress, on the left at the corner, was where I got my first car model in 1967, an AMT Junior Trophy '59 Edsel snap-together kit and it was about 69 cents. Kress had a killer candy counter in the front of the store that was staffed by old ladies who wore their sweaters over their shoulders with their arms free. My older sister treated me to my first candy corn there in about 1966 and it was probably five cents worth. (Man, the things we remember.) This area died in the early 1970s and today is a fairly dangerous place to be even in broad daylight. I would not have been caught dead here after about 1970. The bank building is still there but much of the rest of these buildings were torn down in the late 70s. The Kress building was removed in about 1974. This entire business district died completely in about four years between 1970-74.