| Cruisin' the Past |
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| Cruisin’ the Past by Ed Dooley |
Tucson in 1960
Like 2010, the year 1960, the year of our graduation from Catalina High School, was a
Federal Census year. The decennial enumeration found the population of Tucson to stand
at 212,892, up from the 1950 Census total of 45,454 inhabitants. This means that during
our elementary and secondary school years, Tucson’s population grew by over 365
percent! The 1960 count put Tucson among the 75 largest cities in the United States.
When you add the city’s number to the county’s population of 262,139, the total for the
area in 1960 stood at 475,031 residents.
The extent of the city was growing as well. By 1960, Tucson had reached a size of 70
square miles. (Today, it covers 195.1 square miles.) In our day, there wasn’t much beyond
River Road to the north, Old Spanish Trail to the east, and Silverbell Road to the west. To
the south was Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and there wasn’t much beyond that. Tucson
was a spread-out city in 1960. Most of it was laid out in a grid pattern, and the streets were
wide. Not surprisingly, the automobile was king. Public transportation, limited to the bus
lines of Tucson Rapid Transit and Old Pueblo Transit, was limited. Taxis were available,
but the distances were prohibitively great. Trolley cars had long since disappeared,
although the tracks were still visible on University Boulevard leading directly to the entrance
to the U. of A.
While we were in high school, Tucson was going through one of its growth spurts, with
subdivisions springing up all around us. Much of this development took place without
adequate planning until a regional land-use plan was adopted by Tucson City Council in
1959 and then growth came under some restraints. Until then, subdivisions put a strain on
streets and services. Typically, home sites in these subdivisions could be purchased for
around $5000. There was no limit to what someone could pay for a house. Some could be
had for as little as $8,500, a few went for $100,000, but on average a new house in Tucson
in 1960 cost between $10,000 and $17,000. The economy slowed down in 1961-1962 and
real estate sales fell off, but new construction and sales picked up again after that. By
1960, much of the desert had been lost within the city as easterners who came to Tucson
preferred green lawns and shade trees to sand and cacti. Aerial photographs comparing
Tucson in 1950 and 1960 show the stunning difference. There were, nevertheless, large
lots of undeveloped desert land along Speedway, remarkably even on the north side
between Campbell Avenue and Country Club.
The skyline of the Old Pueblo was undergoing dramatic change during our four years at
Catalina. A new city hall containing the offices of Mayor Don Hummel and City Manager
Porter Homer replaced the old one, new high rise buildings were constructed downtown,
and older buildings like the Valley National Bank and the Pioneer Hotel had stories added
to them. In May 1960, the Tucson Daily Citizen reported, “And soon there will be more tall
buildings dotting downtown Tucson skyline and anchoring the city’s economic foundation.
All these [are] evidences of both the city’s strength and confidence held in the city’s
future.” Tall buildings were pretty much confined to the center of town except for some of
the new buildings at the University of Arizona, which was celebrating its 75th anniversary in
1960. Another change to downtown was slum clearance, which resulted – unfortunately –
in the demolition of a portion of the historic area adjacent to downtown. As physical
changes were made to the center of the city, businesses and residents increasingly moved
to the suburbs, which resulted in fewer people and businesses on Congress Street.
The main streets for us were Speedway Boulevard, Broadway Street, 22nd Street, and – a
distant fourth – Grant Road, all running east and west. We witnessed a dramatic increase
in traffic along these arteries. And where people went, commerce and businesses
followed. It was along these straight and wide arteries that individual stores and,
increasingly, shopping centers were built. One of the first “shopping centers” to be built in
Tucson was El Rancho Market, which opened on Speedway in July 1949. This was
followed by dozens of other “villages,” “-ways,” “-gates,” “gardens,” and “plazas.” In our
time, we saw the addition of Swanway, Delray, County Fair, Southgate, Casas Adobes,
Amphi Plaza, Monterey Village, Campbell Plaza, Flowing Wells, El Con Shopping Center,
and other El Ranchos. Many of the businesses that we knew are no longer around, but we
remember their names: Johnie’s Drive-In, Myerson’s, Gruenwald and Adams, Jacome’s,
Lewis Shoes, Steinfeld’s, Porter’s of Arizona, Levy’s of Tucson, Korby’s, Nielsen Drug Co.,
Sam Levitz Warehouse, Reuben Gold’s, Kittles Bike and Key Shop, Ronstadt’s Hardware,
Midway Lumber Company, Dietz Auto Painting and Repair, O’Reilly Chevrolet, Bill Breck
Dodge, Curley Moffet Automobiles, Precision Motors, and Blakley’s, to name just a few.
Gas could run as low as 15 cents a gallon when there was a “gas war,” and a typical new
1960 automobile cost around $3,000.
Along with many of the stores already mentioned, we remember the markets, including
Soporito’s Market, Sharp’s Market, Goodman’s, A. J. Bayless, Safeway, Food Giant, El
Rancho Shopping Center, and many others. Prices in 1960, from today’s perspective, were
low: a loaf of bread was 19 cents, milk was 42 cents a gallon, a ten-pound bag of sugar
was 39 cents, coffee was 69 cents a pound, eggs were 43 cents a dozen, a T-bone steak
was $1.09 a pound, and bananas were 10 cents a pound. One has to keep in mind,
however, that the median family income in the US in 1960 was $5,620, and the price of food
was always a little higher in Tucson because of transportation costs.
In our area of town, Speedway was the boundary between Catalina High School and
Tucson High School districts. As Tucson experienced the effects of the Baby Boom, new
high schools were added in quick succession. In 1958 there were four high schools in the
Tucson Unified School District; by 1960, there were eight: Amphitheater, Catalina, Flowing
Wells, Pueblo, Rincon, Salpointe, Sunnyside, and Tucson. The athletic competition among
them was strong, although there was little other formal contact.
Tucson had two major newspapers in 1960: the Tucson Daily Citizen (the evening paper)
and the Tucson Daily Star (morning paper). There were ten radio stations broadcasting at
the time: KTAN, KEVT, KCEE, KTKT (the favorite among teenagers), KCUB, KMOP, KTUC,
KOLD, KAIR, and KFMM (the only FM station, playing classical music). There were four
television stations: KVOA (NBC), KGUN (ABC), KOLD (CBS), and KUAT (the University of
Arizona which broadcast “educational television”).
The local news of the day covered local politics, controversies involving the purchase of
water producing lands in the San Pedro Valley, crimes, accidents, social events, and other
standard fare. Of greatest interest was a heated debate over Washington’s decision to
construct eighteen Titan missile installations around the city. A “Committee Against Ringing
Tucson with Titans” was formed and was led by a UA professor of physics. The committee
wanted to locate the missiles east of the city to lessen the chance of radioactive fallout,
while Air Force spokesmen and other supporters insisted that there was no danger to the
city. The Cold War heated up in May 1960 when the Soviets shot down a US spy plane,
and sabers were rattled on both sides. Because Tucson was to be the center of a ring of
Titan ICBMs aimed at the Soviet Union, and because of the presence of Strategic Air
Command bombers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the Tucson Civil Defense Office
received, on average, 500 calls a day for about a week from residents who feared a
nuclear attack. Tucson was also the location of Hughes Aircraft Company – Arizona’s
largest employer -- that, despite its name, mainly produced missiles at the time. Later, in
1962, fear of an attack on Tucson rose to a fever pitch at the time of the Cuban Missile
Crisis, when Tucsonans stockpiled food and contemplated seeking shelter in the mountains.
As summer 1960 and our graduation day approached, Cold War fear was not the only thing
to rise. The temperature also went up. In mid-May, we experienced 101 degree
temperatures, breaking records three days in a row, and an unofficial reading of 106
degrees was recorded at the UA. It was, however – as they say – “a dry heat,” and it
always fell after the sun set. As summer approached and the temperature rose, tourists –
approximately 40,000 annually -- began looking for cooler climates, and Tucson became a
sleepy place. Nature took care of some of the heat by providing afternoon showers in July
and August, the so-called monsoon season. And there were ways to beat the heat.
Increasingly, people bought air conditioners for their homes – York, Wright, Amana were
the favorites – replacing the old reliable but out of fashion “swamp coolers.” Automobile air
conditioners came on the market, although the first few minutes in a car that had been
parked in the sun continued to be an ordeal. And there was the old standby: the swimming
pool. Our favorite was the nearby Himmel Park swimming pool, which opened for the
season in mid-May. Over 25,000 swimmers used the pool in 1959, and the number
increased in 1960. The city also operated Mission Manor Pool and St. Ambrose Pool. In
addition, there was Wetmore Pool (not a city pool).
Tucson in 1960 was a relatively safe city. During our school years, we certainly felt that
way. This would change in the next decade. By 1979, Tucson was experiencing a crime
wave of major proportions that was made worse by the introduction of drugs, according to
the FBI and the Pima County Attorney. High crime continued to be a problem for years,
and continues to some degree to this day. As with so many other aspects of life in Tucson,
the Class of 1960 graduated at a turning point in the history of the city.
In 1958, Arizona Highways magazine published a special edition on “Tucson: Sunshine City
in the Desert.” Making allowance for his boosterism, the editor was justified in writing: “We
met a man not long ago who moved to Tucson with his family last spring. His only regret
was that he had not made the move years before. ‘Why do you like Tucson?’ we asked.
His answer: ‘Because Tucson is a big modern city with the friendliness and easy informality
of a small town.’”
Many of us remember the Old Pueblo just that way. And apparently the AARP agrees. In
the September/October 2009 issue of its magazine, AARP selected Tucson as its number
one choice of “Best Places to Live.”
Like 2010, the year 1960, the year of our graduation from Catalina High School, was a
Federal Census year. The decennial enumeration found the population of Tucson to stand
at 212,892, up from the 1950 Census total of 45,454 inhabitants. This means that during
our elementary and secondary school years, Tucson’s population grew by over 365
percent! The 1960 count put Tucson among the 75 largest cities in the United States.
When you add the city’s number to the county’s population of 262,139, the total for the
area in 1960 stood at 475,031 residents.
The extent of the city was growing as well. By 1960, Tucson had reached a size of 70
square miles. (Today, it covers 195.1 square miles.) In our day, there wasn’t much beyond
River Road to the north, Old Spanish Trail to the east, and Silverbell Road to the west. To
the south was Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and there wasn’t much beyond that. Tucson
was a spread-out city in 1960. Most of it was laid out in a grid pattern, and the streets were
wide. Not surprisingly, the automobile was king. Public transportation, limited to the bus
lines of Tucson Rapid Transit and Old Pueblo Transit, was limited. Taxis were available,
but the distances were prohibitively great. Trolley cars had long since disappeared,
although the tracks were still visible on University Boulevard leading directly to the entrance
to the U. of A.
While we were in high school, Tucson was going through one of its growth spurts, with
subdivisions springing up all around us. Much of this development took place without
adequate planning until a regional land-use plan was adopted by Tucson City Council in
1959 and then growth came under some restraints. Until then, subdivisions put a strain on
streets and services. Typically, home sites in these subdivisions could be purchased for
around $5000. There was no limit to what someone could pay for a house. Some could be
had for as little as $8,500, a few went for $100,000, but on average a new house in Tucson
in 1960 cost between $10,000 and $17,000. The economy slowed down in 1961-1962 and
real estate sales fell off, but new construction and sales picked up again after that. By
1960, much of the desert had been lost within the city as easterners who came to Tucson
preferred green lawns and shade trees to sand and cacti. Aerial photographs comparing
Tucson in 1950 and 1960 show the stunning difference. There were, nevertheless, large
lots of undeveloped desert land along Speedway, remarkably even on the north side
between Campbell Avenue and Country Club.
The skyline of the Old Pueblo was undergoing dramatic change during our four years at
Catalina. A new city hall containing the offices of Mayor Don Hummel and City Manager
Porter Homer replaced the old one, new high rise buildings were constructed downtown,
and older buildings like the Valley National Bank and the Pioneer Hotel had stories added
to them. In May 1960, the Tucson Daily Citizen reported, “And soon there will be more tall
buildings dotting downtown Tucson skyline and anchoring the city’s economic foundation.
All these [are] evidences of both the city’s strength and confidence held in the city’s
future.” Tall buildings were pretty much confined to the center of town except for some of
the new buildings at the University of Arizona, which was celebrating its 75th anniversary in
1960. Another change to downtown was slum clearance, which resulted – unfortunately –
in the demolition of a portion of the historic area adjacent to downtown. As physical
changes were made to the center of the city, businesses and residents increasingly moved
to the suburbs, which resulted in fewer people and businesses on Congress Street.
The main streets for us were Speedway Boulevard, Broadway Street, 22nd Street, and – a
distant fourth – Grant Road, all running east and west. We witnessed a dramatic increase
in traffic along these arteries. And where people went, commerce and businesses
followed. It was along these straight and wide arteries that individual stores and,
increasingly, shopping centers were built. One of the first “shopping centers” to be built in
Tucson was El Rancho Market, which opened on Speedway in July 1949. This was
followed by dozens of other “villages,” “-ways,” “-gates,” “gardens,” and “plazas.” In our
time, we saw the addition of Swanway, Delray, County Fair, Southgate, Casas Adobes,
Amphi Plaza, Monterey Village, Campbell Plaza, Flowing Wells, El Con Shopping Center,
and other El Ranchos. Many of the businesses that we knew are no longer around, but we
remember their names: Johnie’s Drive-In, Myerson’s, Gruenwald and Adams, Jacome’s,
Lewis Shoes, Steinfeld’s, Porter’s of Arizona, Levy’s of Tucson, Korby’s, Nielsen Drug Co.,
Sam Levitz Warehouse, Reuben Gold’s, Kittles Bike and Key Shop, Ronstadt’s Hardware,
Midway Lumber Company, Dietz Auto Painting and Repair, O’Reilly Chevrolet, Bill Breck
Dodge, Curley Moffet Automobiles, Precision Motors, and Blakley’s, to name just a few.
Gas could run as low as 15 cents a gallon when there was a “gas war,” and a typical new
1960 automobile cost around $3,000.
Along with many of the stores already mentioned, we remember the markets, including
Soporito’s Market, Sharp’s Market, Goodman’s, A. J. Bayless, Safeway, Food Giant, El
Rancho Shopping Center, and many others. Prices in 1960, from today’s perspective, were
low: a loaf of bread was 19 cents, milk was 42 cents a gallon, a ten-pound bag of sugar
was 39 cents, coffee was 69 cents a pound, eggs were 43 cents a dozen, a T-bone steak
was $1.09 a pound, and bananas were 10 cents a pound. One has to keep in mind,
however, that the median family income in the US in 1960 was $5,620, and the price of food
was always a little higher in Tucson because of transportation costs.
In our area of town, Speedway was the boundary between Catalina High School and
Tucson High School districts. As Tucson experienced the effects of the Baby Boom, new
high schools were added in quick succession. In 1958 there were four high schools in the
Tucson Unified School District; by 1960, there were eight: Amphitheater, Catalina, Flowing
Wells, Pueblo, Rincon, Salpointe, Sunnyside, and Tucson. The athletic competition among
them was strong, although there was little other formal contact.
Tucson had two major newspapers in 1960: the Tucson Daily Citizen (the evening paper)
and the Tucson Daily Star (morning paper). There were ten radio stations broadcasting at
the time: KTAN, KEVT, KCEE, KTKT (the favorite among teenagers), KCUB, KMOP, KTUC,
KOLD, KAIR, and KFMM (the only FM station, playing classical music). There were four
television stations: KVOA (NBC), KGUN (ABC), KOLD (CBS), and KUAT (the University of
Arizona which broadcast “educational television”).
The local news of the day covered local politics, controversies involving the purchase of
water producing lands in the San Pedro Valley, crimes, accidents, social events, and other
standard fare. Of greatest interest was a heated debate over Washington’s decision to
construct eighteen Titan missile installations around the city. A “Committee Against Ringing
Tucson with Titans” was formed and was led by a UA professor of physics. The committee
wanted to locate the missiles east of the city to lessen the chance of radioactive fallout,
while Air Force spokesmen and other supporters insisted that there was no danger to the
city. The Cold War heated up in May 1960 when the Soviets shot down a US spy plane,
and sabers were rattled on both sides. Because Tucson was to be the center of a ring of
Titan ICBMs aimed at the Soviet Union, and because of the presence of Strategic Air
Command bombers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the Tucson Civil Defense Office
received, on average, 500 calls a day for about a week from residents who feared a
nuclear attack. Tucson was also the location of Hughes Aircraft Company – Arizona’s
largest employer -- that, despite its name, mainly produced missiles at the time. Later, in
1962, fear of an attack on Tucson rose to a fever pitch at the time of the Cuban Missile
Crisis, when Tucsonans stockpiled food and contemplated seeking shelter in the mountains.
As summer 1960 and our graduation day approached, Cold War fear was not the only thing
to rise. The temperature also went up. In mid-May, we experienced 101 degree
temperatures, breaking records three days in a row, and an unofficial reading of 106
degrees was recorded at the UA. It was, however – as they say – “a dry heat,” and it
always fell after the sun set. As summer approached and the temperature rose, tourists –
approximately 40,000 annually -- began looking for cooler climates, and Tucson became a
sleepy place. Nature took care of some of the heat by providing afternoon showers in July
and August, the so-called monsoon season. And there were ways to beat the heat.
Increasingly, people bought air conditioners for their homes – York, Wright, Amana were
the favorites – replacing the old reliable but out of fashion “swamp coolers.” Automobile air
conditioners came on the market, although the first few minutes in a car that had been
parked in the sun continued to be an ordeal. And there was the old standby: the swimming
pool. Our favorite was the nearby Himmel Park swimming pool, which opened for the
season in mid-May. Over 25,000 swimmers used the pool in 1959, and the number
increased in 1960. The city also operated Mission Manor Pool and St. Ambrose Pool. In
addition, there was Wetmore Pool (not a city pool).
Tucson in 1960 was a relatively safe city. During our school years, we certainly felt that
way. This would change in the next decade. By 1979, Tucson was experiencing a crime
wave of major proportions that was made worse by the introduction of drugs, according to
the FBI and the Pima County Attorney. High crime continued to be a problem for years,
and continues to some degree to this day. As with so many other aspects of life in Tucson,
the Class of 1960 graduated at a turning point in the history of the city.
In 1958, Arizona Highways magazine published a special edition on “Tucson: Sunshine City
in the Desert.” Making allowance for his boosterism, the editor was justified in writing: “We
met a man not long ago who moved to Tucson with his family last spring. His only regret
was that he had not made the move years before. ‘Why do you like Tucson?’ we asked.
His answer: ‘Because Tucson is a big modern city with the friendliness and easy informality
of a small town.’”
Many of us remember the Old Pueblo just that way. And apparently the AARP agrees. In
the September/October 2009 issue of its magazine, AARP selected Tucson as its number
one choice of “Best Places to Live.”
