Old Mill Shopping Center
Mountain View, California - January, 26, 1977
The impressive sixteen foot high water wheel that made up part of the miniature indoor "mill" that sat over a lush tree lined, landscaped creek, winding its way through the courtyard of the Old Mill Shopping Center. The setup reminds me of a similar one I blogged about before that once existed at the Golf Mill Shopping Center--only this one at Old Mill was inside the mall! Pretty cool, huh?
Here's a little history from the Mountain View Preservation Alliance:
The Old Mill opened in 1976 as a boutique shopping center, the "Ghiradelli Square of Mountain View" as it was known. Stores and restaurants surrounded a two story atrium that contained a creek, old wooden mill, and large living trees and luxurious landscaping. Fargo's was a popular teen hang out, La Posada a popular Mexican-American restaurant. The mall fell on hard times in the 1980s, and after a failed conversion into a "public market" (without the creek and trees), it closed in 1989. The site is now home to the landmark New Urbanist "Crossings" neighborhood.Mall history: 1976 - 1989
Current website: n/a
Previous entries: none
(Study image courtesy and © the Palo Alto Historical Association)
posted by Keith @ 11/25/2006
30 Comments:
This reminds me of Meadowbrook Mall in Rochester, Mich (RIP). It was built at about the same time and had a big mill in its courtyard. I wonder if anyone has photos of the inside of Meadowbrook's courtyard?
Sad that it is no longer around.
you really have to look twice to see that this is actually a mall...
The Old Mill really looked like an office building, with an atrium, that converted to retail use. Even the outside looked like an office building. It had lush landscaping inside, complete with river. The stores were mostly novelty, ones that you might see at a popular tourist area. However, Mountain View isn't a tourist attraction. Once they ripped out the landscaping and river, it lost its intrigue. The mall eventually failed. Funny thing, most people didn't even know it was there.
Mountain View was originally home to three malls: The Old Mill, Mayfield Mall, and San Antonio Shopping Center. Only San Antonio remains, but it was de-malled years ago.
Scott
The Old Mill was odd, as beautiful as it was, the shops were not so memorable. Besides the cinema, the candy shop and a few restaurants (I was too young for the clubs) the Old Mill was kinda boring. No major retail store(s). The High School kids use to circle around it cruising on Saturday Nights. But the La Posada served great Mexican food and had seating both indoors and "outdoors," in the lush creekside setting. That was the Old Mill at it's best.
I remember seeing another photo with lots and lots of lush tree's. Almost made it look like there's a forest in the atrium complete with a river. Always wanted to know more about this mall.
Old Mill Memory 1: Showing up to see the movie "Breakin" in a full Nike windbreaker sweatsuit and having a pop off in the bathroom against two dudes.
Old Mill Memory 2: Going to see the Osmond movie, "Going Coconuts" with a birthday party and leaving the theater thinking I had just witnessed the best movie ever made.
Other Mill thoughts: Dad having a meltdown at "Star Wars" when my sister kept crying. Getting loaded to go see Eddie Murphy "Raw". Or was it "Delirious"?
Amazing. Terrifying. Wonderful. Shocking. Soothing. Weakening.
Cranius Maximus' description is vivid and accurate. How weaked-out we must've made that cop... If I remember correctly Karla had to attend a class over that deal- what a good sport.
My favorite "Old Mill Memory" is of a double date- Scott Schuller and myself escorted the lovely Susan Sciaroni and, I believe, the much sought after Kelly Martin to a showing of who-knows-what (it may have been "The Jerk"- is the timing right??) A huge step up from the normal Red Lion Pizza (BRING IT BACK!!) PV date, but they still didn't put out.
Runner-up "Old Mill Memory" would have to be the Mountain View premiere of "Wizards". The event was so eagerly anticipated by Chris Pieper that he obtained a "Wizards" t-shirt in advance of the showing which in those pre-worldwide interweb days was quite something. As we were gathering in the buttercup-carpeted Pieper living room (HBO before anyone else- "Postman Always Rings Twice" nightly) preparing to board the Lincoln (Mark VII?? Frimm, help me on this) Jan Pieper got to thinking that maybe this cartoon wasn't appropriate for 11-year olds. Well, Chris began hyperventilating and Oz kicked his charm into gear (the undisputed king until the arrival of Michael Peterson a very short time later) and soon we were out the door- Jan's puzzled expression no more than a memory as we turned left onto Cervantes...
WOW - wicked flash back. Summer of 82, Standing on the side of old
Arastradero road following the sherrifs orders to pour out the
remaining 12
pack of a case of Special Export that my sister had procured so that
Fogarty, Peterson, and I could challenge ourselves to guzzling 8 beers
each
between Ladera liquors and the Mill.
Things were already going poorly when the friendly sherrif noticed that
my T
shirt had a huge purple bud on it with a caption of - "This bud's for
you."
he expressed his displeasure and all but drew his side arm to get me to
take
it off..... underneath I was wearing a chopped up sleaveless T with a
picture of a guy passed out over a spilt beer, it read "LUSH".
Despite the now enraged disposition of the sherrif, - who was insisting
that
I remove both shirts and wear one inside out, - and the somewhat grave
situation we were in for 15 year olds, I remember looking over at TJ
and MP
unsuccessfully trying to subdue their amusement and thinking to myself
"Man, I know we are in huge trouble, but hanging out at the Mill on
only a 4
beer buzz just isn't going to be the same, maybe I should get Karla to
take
us back to the liqour store first, and we can just catch a later
showing"
Ahhh Youth
You have my mind running away from me with "Old Mill" memories. Getting below average candy at the "Sweet Tooth" covered wagon kiosk, stealing old (and valuable) baseball cards from the "Dugout" topped off with a Pizza and bottomless root beer at "Fargo's," maybe a quick run to "Tower" or the surplus store and then off to see "Smokey and the Bandit II"
Revisited that place sometime in the early Nineties and it was nothing but wind, weeds, warped wood and oversized cracks in the parking lot pavement. Ghost town. Likely as not headquarters for some super cyber whiz kids with no idea whatever about what kind of tricks that place could conjure out of me.
my dad made a river boat and had it in one of the resterants . dont know what one , but it had lights and everything worked, also remember a tallent show at the pizza joint for crittenden school
Remember the great t-shirt store upstairs? You could choose from all kinds of iron on photos - Star Wars, Shaun Cassidy, etc. Loved that place!
I grew up in the bay area. interesting thing was that the mall was poorly planned. There was NO ANCHOR tenent, poorly located, and in 1988 the center was foreclosed and then torn down for a housing development.
I work at the AMC Old Mill Six during my junior and senior years in high school. I was there when the Empire Strikes Back opened - the lines circled the center two times. I was good times for a while.
I remember watching, with my oldest son, the wrecking ball smash it down. He didn't understand, of course, but a piece of me left every time the ball hit the center...
I saw The Empire Strikes Back when it came out in 1980 at the Old Mill. Also saw 9 to 5 one Friday night when my mother took us to the movies. Also in 1980. The audience loved 9 to 5.
I always liked the Old Mill AMC theater and mall. It was peaceful. Loved the bookstore, the candy store and and this cool restaurant called Bourbon Street. It seemed so mysterious like New Orleans would.
It was a great mall. It even was home to a radio station for a time.
But nothing lasts.
Most of my memories of the Old Mill are movie memories. It was a typical late-70's mall 6-plex, but I sure did see a lot of movies there. At least until the Century 10 opened up. Best movie was Return of the Jedi on opening day (my 9th birthday).
Fargo's got me laid more than any bar I ever patronized. Great memories!
Does anyone remember the radio station there to. Ahh, the opening of Star Wars and the great little French place that had the greatest chocolate mousse. Did anyone go to the "Zimezone" across the street to play video games?
yup....VERY PRETTY. WE WERE THERE JUST BEFORE IT OPENED, AS MY HUSBANDS' COUSIN MARIO OWNED THE TWO STORY MEXICAN RESTAURANT BEING BUILT THERE. IF ANYONE LOVED THE FOOD THERE, CHECK OUT HIS RESTAURANT 'EL BURRO', IN CAMPBELL(NEXT TO SAN JOSE). HE'S PASSED AND HIS CHILDREN OWN IT...AT THE PRUNYARD SHOPPING CENTER.
I will always have fond memories of this mall, mainly because of the Dugout baseball card shop !
hi John W. yes King Norman was at Eastridge in that pic. I used to go to to the Vallco one that turned into a McDonalds which is next to Sears.
does anybody remember those strange stuffed purple satin characters with sand filled feet,they had pointy faces some were blue red black,they looked like the spy vs spy guys minus the hat.i would really like to know what they were called or who made them,they were very unique and sold at a stationary type store that was right behind the water wheel.i was a kid at the time but i have remembered those things my whole life and any info.would be great ,thank you abrulez1 at yahoodot com.strange days indeed...
I remember this place being fun; there was a store where you could actually rent video game time by the hour playing Atari 2600 systems.
After the retail part closed, it was still a second-run movie theater for about 5 or 6 more years. I still remember seeing the film advertisements on the San Antonio Road billboard; the last film the theater showed was "Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco" and even after the theater closed the billboard changed and said "That's All Folks" for several months before the board was removed.
Definitely remember Fargos Pizza, I bagged groceries next door at continental markets. Fargo's and the night club at the other end would bring their large bills in and get change for the night. And there was that guy from the grateful dead, Jerry Garcia that liked Fargos Pizza, He kept a guitar in the back and after he ate he would get up on stage and sing a few tunes. I shoulda asked for an autograph, duh. The audience loved the free show though. so casual like. and so lucky, right time right place. Never knew when he would pop in.
My best memory of the old mill was of Fargos.. I never had the pizza, but Fargos wasn`t about Pizza.. Fargos was a large two story place where after paying your $5 dollar cover charge you got a stamp on your hand.. Black for under 21, red for over.. On the weekends they had live bands, cold beer, and a whole lot of pretty woman to meet and dance with !
The thing I remember most about the Old Mill was Fargo's. It was a great place to dance and meet people. But my fondest memory of Fargo's was meeting one certain guy there. It's just sad that Fargo's is gone, but the memories will always remain.
VMay
Great memories of the Old Mill Mall! My buds and I would travel over from Livermore on Saturday nights just for the great crowds and bands at Fargos.
heh...I had just moved to California in '81 and got invited to a friend's company party. I actually met two women that night and dated both of them.
I couldn't believe my "luck". California was going to be great!
Alas, one day I called the company asking to talk with one of them and the other happened to be answering the phone that day. So...I was caught and neither wanted to talk with me again!
oh_joyous_me
My husband proposed to me at Upstart Crow & Co. in the Old Mill Shopping Center...WOW! I didn't realize the area had become a housing development. It is sad that it's no longer around. I used to love to go shopping there when I lived in bay area.
I saw Star Wars (IV) at Old Mill Six. It remained on one of the six screens for an entire year. I sat in the middle of the third row and somehow my entire peripheral vision was taken up, quite an experience at twelve years old. I've sat in the same position in every theater I've gone to since. Sadly, Mountain View doesn't seen to have the same distinctive feel it used to. Kinda mad that Klein Elementary fell to Prop. 13. It was a unique and very good school. So much of MV has fallen into a standardized, generic, commercial kind of Californication. Hard to tell MV from a lot of SoCal. MV's unique character seems to have been lost. But I see that loose shopping carts still plaque Latham St. At least THAT hasn't changed. And downtown looks better. Traffic seems twice as bad now.
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