Historical Tranquility
by
Gerry Niskern
There was an interesting article in Wednesday’s Arizona Republic by Tirion Morris. It seems an old home, in the Roosevelt district, built in the early l900’s was recently purchased and turned into a Cocktail Bar. The neighborhood wanted to preserve the house and so did the new business owner.
The family that had lived in the old home for over forty years were thrilled to hold a reunion there when the bar was finished. How great was that? Wouldn’t it be fantastic to revisit your childhood home.
The house I lived in at l729 West Madison is gone, but not forgotten. I remember the night my mom and dad bought it. It was the summer of l942 and we had just arrived in Phoenix. Houses were so scarce during the war that there were several families waiting out on the sidewalk hoping to buy it if my folks didn’t.
This three bedroom, one bath was the first home my parents had ever owned. I remember climbing the wide front steps to a spacious front porch. There was a porch swing (handy for courting later on). The floor inside was beautiful hardwood. On cold nights you could stand on the big floor register from the furnace in the middle of the room to get warm. The fireplace was a great place to pop popcorn over the coals.
Next came the dining room where we always had supper. It had a built-in china cupboard for my mom’s glassware. Then thru a swinging door to the kitchen where the drain boards were made of soapstone; very scratchy.
My sister and I reveled in the fact that we would each have our own room for the very first time. My floor was stained dark walnut, I was allowed to paint scenes on the walls and a large area rug made from luxurious Llama furs adorned my floor. (my uncle in the U. S. Navy had sent it to me from Peru.)
But our joy was short lived. The government asked all families to help the war effort by renting a room to a service man’s wife. Since there were four air bases in the valley training fighter pilots at that time, there were lots of wives!
My parents gave up their room since it had an outside entrance. They took my precious bedroom and I was sent to share my sister’s room. (She never forgave me) It’s strange, but I don’t remember us all sharing the one bathroom being a problem.
There were many nice older homes all around the state capitol at that time and it’s too bad everything changed. The State of Arizona bought up the whole block to build a new Highway Department building.
I lived in that wonderful sanctuary from age ten to eighteen and even though it has been gone for many years it will always live in my memory.