This is the Downtown that I Remember (Kinda)

I'm going to go see my Grandma this week and whenever I think of Grandma, I think of our frequent trips to the downtown area (in the 70's). I don't have a picture of G.C. Murphy's from that exact time period, but this postcard comes pretty close to what I remember things looking like when I was a youngster.

Mention G.C. Murphy's to any child of the fort and the first thing they'll probably bring up is the donuts (machine now in place at Cindy's Diner). Yes, of course, those comments would roll off of my lips, but the first thing that always pops into my head is...the basement area.

I know, you think I'm crazy...the basement area? When you went in doors, you'd go down a couple set of stairs. It was like 10 steps and then room to rest ;). And then another 10 steps - something like that ;).

Anyway - what was in the basement? Clearance, my friends...clearance! Murphy's had these shallow bins with things marked down ridiculously. It always always always smelled like the rubber from the bottom of our tennis shoes in that place. The ceilings were low and the place was badly lit. Still, my grandma could sniff out a great deal and I was sure to leave with something new!

Another neat thing about Murphy's is that the PTC buses had their main hubs there. We might take the bus downtown, shop at Murphy's while waiting for our transfer out to say - Southtown or Park West (had to hit up Mr. Wiggs some days). And heck, if we missed our transfer - just more time to hang out in Murphy's! Plenty to do, see, and certainly eat.

When Murphy's - well the building - was demolished or redone or whatever - I was no longer living in Fort Wayne. Now, when I'm in the fort and I'm walking in this area, I don't even recognize much. Almost all of the "landmark" type of buildings or businesses no longer exist or have been changed to a point where they are unrecognizable. Sometimes I think, Fort Wayne might have been better off building that 465 type of a loop through Downtown (this was like back in the 40's? 50's?).

But back to Murphy's. There will never, ever be another place like it again. And I'm thankful that my grandparents immersed me in the experience of it.

P.S. If you want to see even MORE detail of the postcard, click on the picture and it will take you to my Flickr account. At the top, you'll see an option to see ALL SIZES. The details are pretty amazing!

The Parkwest Area

During my quick in-and-out trip Sunday, I stopped through the Parkwest area and captured some pictures of the places that "used to be". Mind you - my point of capturing the stuff wasn't to tell you that what exists there today is crap and what used to be there was much better.

Nope. I'm just tellin' you what it used to be. Commentary for what may or may not be current and past crap may be alluded to within each individual blurb next to the photo. Otherwise - no sweeping generalizations on the current state of this strip mall area.

For all of you young'uns, believe it or not - at one time - Parkwest - used to be a thriving suburban-like area - just around the bend from downtown (via West Jefferson). I wish I could tell you the history of this place. Sadly, I know - well - not much. I know that it existed in the early 70's. But none of my Fort Wayne history books give this stripmall the time of day (except to acknowledge that it existed). If anyone knows the history of this place - speak up and share!

Confession - the place has always struggled with establishing and maintaining its own identity. I'm not sure why. Maybe cause we folks on the southwest side, didn't have the money you northsiders had ;) ahem.

Picture #1, 2, 3:

This is the front, main entrance to a place that used to be a department store. In the 70's - it was Mr. Wiggs. In the 80's - it was Heck's. Both were very generic department stores - something like a KMart or a Walmart.


I worked inside of here during 1986 as a teller for Anthony Wayne Bank. If you walked into Heck's, we were located in our own area, to the left.

Or basically, in the area where this door is now located.


Picture #4:

This is the back corner of what used to be the location of International Business College. I took a couple of courses there in the 80's.

Picture #5:

This used to be Godfather's Pizza. My husband (boyfriend at the time), really like GF Pizza. Me - not so much.

Always heavy on the stuff that I wasn't fond of and their cheese had that non-descript, generic taste.

Picture #6:

This used to be Scott's Parkwest. It was quite the place. In fact, it was my official, first job after graduating high school and it changed my life in many ways.

In a series of six degrees of separation (at least I'm guessing that's how many there were), I can trace back meeting my husband to the hiring of me at Scott's - and in particular - me being assigned to the Scott's at Parkwest.

Side note: before you start thinking that this was as easy as him coming into the store - think again. I don't think the man ever stepped south of the Mason-Dixon line (i.e. Main Street) in his life. He barely crossed over Coliseum Blvd. - and then - only for special occasions like O'Sullivans and Coney Island. But more on all of that LATER.

This was a thriving store, undergoing massive remodeling in mid 1985 (I was hired during the grand re-opening!). Dave Burkhart was the store manager. He was a cool dude. I think this Scott's ended up closing around 2000. I blame the adhd development of Coventry (and Jefferson Pointe) on the demise of this particular store.

Since I'm diagressing...Coventry was quite the controversy in the mid-80's. I remember the citizens of Aboite fighting with the developer (Zehr?) and with the then - Allen County Commissioners. Lots of back and forth over the 100 + acre re-zoning - but as we know - the developer won. And now, that area is like its own little city. Too bad people didn't have the forethought to take all of the energy and put it into revitalizing the downtown area 20 + years ago...

Picture #7:

Not really "Parkwest" - but more like the Time Corners area - was this building which is a combination Office Depot and Fresh Mart. It used to be Cub Foods. I worked here part-time.

Winter On Kyle Road

Looking Down Kyle Road
Originally uploaded by kristinafh

You are looking at the top of Kyle Road.

I know you can't tell from this particular shot, but there's a nice downward slope on this road.

And going up this with your bike is a bitch. It's more than a workout for a ten year old. It's like training for some marathon. Which is why we usually didn't take this route on our bikes. We tended to head the other direction where the road was smoother and flatter.

It was a different story in winter time.

Especially when crusty ole Lester Grile would call off school. School would only be called off in the winter time for one of two reasons. First, blizzard conditions. Second, icy conditions.

As kids, we loved both. The ice though, had its bonus points.

You see, didn't matter what the temperature was. A day off of school, with a fresh sheet of ice - just waiting for us - well - that was almost better than the ice cream truck dropping off free bomb pops.

So, this is how it went down.

We'd tell the parents that we were hangin' at Brian Rice's house (it's on the left - but you can't see it because the trees hide it.

If we had enough kids, we'd break into three groups.

One group would stay towards the bottom - looking for any stupid cars that might try to come out of Cedar Crest OR which might try to make its way up Kyle (up the slope).

Side note: Most drivers avoided this area when it was icy because it was a guaranteed wipe-out.

One group would park themselves at the top of Kyle, watching out for the silly drivers who might approach from Tielker Road.

The other group would grab their plastic, toboggan sleds (mine was red - got it at Mr. Wiggs I think) and ride them down the slope, holding on for dear life.

Things to look out for:

* Other sledders
* Mailboxes
* Utility poles

Otherwise, the name of the game was, see how far and fast you could go without injuring a body part.

And everybody would rotate.

And keep on slidin' down that slope - until it was time to go home for supper.

And that's how we spent our icy winters. Slidin' down the slope with our plastic, toboggan sleds.

Final note: if you've never rode down a slope on a plastic toboggan sled - you haven't experienced life. There's nothing like a thin piece of plastic between you and a sheet of ice and the wind ripping your face off as you hold on for the ride of your life. Guaranteed to erase all of your worries of the day.