Sherwood Gardens Shopping Center
Salinas, California - circa '60s or '70s(?)
Edit: I've updated the opening date on this one. This shopping center is apparently a lot more vintage than the info I first found led me to believe! Which only makes this photo better now.
Mall history: 1956 - present
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Previous entries: none
posted by Keith @ 3/24/2007
14 Comments:
Maybe it opened in '65 or even '55, but not 1985.
When my parents and I would drive to Southern Cal from the Bay Area, we'd go through Salinas, and before the freeway through town was finished, Hwy 101 went right past Sherwood Gardens. And that was in the early 70's.
Perhaps it was renovated in the 80's, but I remember Sherwood Gardens as "Town and Country" type center.
Per my nifty 1964 shopping center guide, it opened in May of 1956. Major anchors in 1964 included Purity Supermarket, Sprouse-Reitz, Frontier Western Wear, and (my favorite) The Pinking Shear.
Dangit. While I can't pretend to know this shopping center well (cuz I don't), I had a feeling in my gut that the '85 opening date I saw (one of the few bits of info I could even find on this place) didn't seem or look right. But it's there in B&W so I assumed it was correct--despite my inner nudges.
According to one, Westrust development co., it opened in 1985. Here's the page I got it from. Maybe I'm somehow reading it wrong or their date is a typo?
Anyway, thanks for the correction guys! I apreciate it.
Don't know what year that would put this (undated) postcard at then. I put "circa 1980s" because I thought it opened in '85. I bet it's more like the '60s now (which is what it looked like to me in the first place).
It probably was remodeled in 1985, but certainly wasn't built. This center has been around since the Sixties, at least. Not to mention, the neighborhood is darn-near indistinguishable now. Sprouse-Reitz was on its way out in 1985; they weren't opening any stores.
Scott
According to Zillow.com, the Sherwood Gardens neighborhood directly behind the shopping center was built in 1955. The empty lot up the hill was filled in by the Capri North Apartments, but I couldnt't find a date when those were built. My guess is that they look late Sixties, early Seventies.
Scott
The 101 highway drove past the shopping center before the freeway bypassed it in 1965. We too would stop in Salinas. The building to the left was Sherwood Inn restaurant, which was a pit stop on our summer trips to S Cal. A Standard gas station is on the right. The Sherwood Inn is vacant,
fenced off and for sale. Many
memories there!
Mike Carroll
I have lived in Salinas all my life, this shopping center has been a great shopping place in the past. Shops that I use to go to as a kid and hang out at, and shop with my parents. Teddy Bear Toy Shop (very old school) Value Giant hardware, Swensens Icecream shop (old fashion Malt shop) Golden West Restaraunt / Pankcake house. All bring back fond memories. I recall going there as early as the mid - 60's but could see this area being there well earlier maybe early 50's. My home 5 blocks away was built in 1953. Good Times...Good times.
Bob
I grew up in the corner house right next to the Baptist church - 131 Iris Drive. On the right side of the hill, eventually was a health care facility for senior citizens. I know the name, but it escapes me now.
Before the Capri Apts were built, I remember going into that open field area w/ my older brother many times. One time we took our little dog Tubby, and it went through a fence and onto 101 and was killed.
I was born in '65, and came home to that house on Iris. In this picture, I would guess it to be late 60's. This one photo produces 100 memories with little thought. I remember Purity (hadn't thought of it in years), Value Giant, didn't remember the name of the Western store, but that name sounds right. And Teddy Bear Toy Shop. Wow, what memories there. What a great photo this is. Downloaded it for my personal use. That's Sherwood Park there in the foreground, with all the eucalyptus trees. This photo is taken right over the Salinas Rodeo - not sure what year it was built, and to the right is Sherwood Greens Golf Course, taken down about 10 years ago. I'm sure it was there when this photo was taken, because that's where my dad spent a lot of time, and where I learned to golf. On the far right of the photo, there should be a drug store, where I bought my grandmother many Valentine's and birthday gifts over the years. There is a row of about 8 cars, and I think that drug store should be seen, if it had been built. Maybe in the very near future after this photo was taken. The circle is Garden Circle, where my best childhood friend lived. The first building to the left of Iris Drive is Valley National Bank (VNB), where my step-mother was a teller. Funny, I very well may have been in the house when this picture was taken! Wow. That blows me away.
I just pulled up a photo of some of my siblings, taken on the front lawn of our home, the corner house right next to the church parking lot. The angle of the photo shows the thin strip of our neighbor's grass, next to Iris Drive - all the homes on Iris had this strip. All of my memory has a tree on that strip, yet this photo shows no trees all down the street. The photo I have is approx '63-'64, as my sister that was born in '58 is about 5-6, and the trees are several years old. Considering this, I don't think this photo was taken later than '60.
If Sherwood Gardens opened in May 1956, I would imagine this photo was taken shortly afterwards, so I think 1956-60 is an accurate estimate, which means my parents had not yet even met, and thus I was not in the house when this photo was taken! :)
I was born in 62 and barely remember Sherwood Gardens North being built. This photo only has the first section then they added the second one. I was trying to find out the year the second one was built when I found this thread.
Concerning Sherwood Gardens,
Not sure of the year it was built. However it was built by Clair Bigham Sr. and Dick Hampshire. ( In 1975 Hampshire Construction Company built my new appliance store on the corner of West Alisal and California Streets ) BILL CARPENTER'S ALISAL APPLIANCE CENTER. Clair Bigham Sr. also owned the Cork N'Bottle liquor stores. Dick Hampshire was a realtor and owned Hampshire Construction Company which was located on Sanborn road near the Bud Antle property.
My first contact with Sherwood Gardens was in 1963. At the time I was an Appliance Service Technician and worked for Valley TV and Appliance on Park Row in South Salinas. I was into " Sandbuggy's " at the time but my income was not sufficient to
support the hobby, so I was searching for part time work. I discovered that the Sherwood Gardens Laundromat was in disrepair and many washers needed repair. I contacted the Manager of Sherwood Gardens at the time, Bob Johnson and asked if he would like the machines repaired. He was receptive, so we went to the laundromat to make a determination of the repairs required. The front load models needed the most repair but is was a commercial washer ( Duplex) with which I had no experience. We decided I would take one machine apart and provide Mr. Johnson with an estimate.
I stuffed one machine into the trunk of my 1953 Oldsmobile, tied down the trunk lid with a rope and took it to my residence which was an apartment ( I had a single car garage ) on Towt St. in Alisal. The repair estimate at which I arrived was $125.00. ( This amount was my weekly gross pay on my regular job ) There were 10 of these machines to be repaired plus many Frigidaire models. ( Anyone remember those, the agitator pulsed up and down, LOL ) For a newly married guy with a " Sandbuggy habit " I discovered a goldmine. Those were the good old days. :-)
I used to go to this store when I was a child in the 50's. It was my favorite place to go when I lived in Salinas. The mall had a life size sleigh and reindeer with a santa driving on the roof each Christmas. Rudolph had a red light bulb nose. Stores were not gigantic like they are now so this was a really large toy store for its time. The owner was a very nice man who was patient with the kids and seemed to really like to see you get enthused about all the toys. I was about three or four when we started going there. Moved away when I was six. They had the most interesting toys and children's books. There were two life sized raggedy Ann and Andy dolls in the doll section and a giant teddy bear near the front. My mother bought me some little rockets powered by baking soda and vinegar there and another that had a launcher with a spring loaded rocket. It had a dial that counted down as you cranked it for blast off. Once I got a book on space there that was very disappointing for an avid science fiction film addict. The book said we would never travel in space and listed all the reasons why people couldn't survive there. I could go on for pages about the store, but like home movies, my memories likely only mean something to me.
My mom owned Earlene's lingerie in Sherwood Garden's Shopping Center. That was back in the 50s.
I helped open the new Value Giant in late 1967. I was Receiving Head. It was my first job out of the Army. Manager was an ex-cop, Chuck Bray. Official name was "Salinas Sundry Sales" Worked there over a year then moved to a technical career at GE in Schenectady, NY.
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