Muskegon Mall Seventies Aerial

Muskegon, Michigan - circa 1976

Vintage aerial view of Muskegon Mall in the seventies, shortly after it originally opened. This sprawling shopping mall (created by throwing a roof over several existing buildings and also adding some new ones) located in the historic heart of downtown Muskegon, MI, opened in 1976, but began to struggle for its retail life in the '90s, until finally closing its doors for good in 2001. It has since been demolished and the area is undergoing an ongoing and long-term redevelopment/revitalization process.

I'll be sharing some interior photos of this mall as well in the near future. It had quite the funky look going on!

Mall history: 1976 - 2001 (dead/redeveloped)
Current website: n/a
Previous entries: none

Vintage Coral Ridge Mall aerial

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - circa 1960s

Here's another vintage aerial postcard (yes, it looks like dirty mall pr0n) of Coral Ridge Mall. Card dates back to the sixties, I believe. I'm still trying to pinpoint what year this shopping mall first opened. I'm also not sure why the mall doesn't appear to maintain an official website (if they do, I sure haven't been able to find it), but current anchor stores are Target, T.J. Maxx, and Marshalls, last I heard.

An anonymous reader shared some fun memories of Coral Ridge the first time I featured it (initial comments reference the aerial in that original post):

"To the left right in front of Penny's is a Publix supermarket which is still open. Move further down in the picture and you will see the old Plitt Theatre (saw King Kong in '76 there), which was a nightclub last time I checked. I have never seen another building, much less a theater, that had this great architectural concave at the top of the roof. Very art deco-esque.

The interior had these wonderful skylights which let in ample yet understated lighting on a bright, sunny day. The ceiling was in a wave-effect pattern which only added to the mall's beauty. I also remember a small arcade where I saw Pac-Man for the first time! (It was on the left corridor exiting Penny's in the mall). They've since built a bigger arcade in almost the exact spot, but it wasn't as magical as the original.

Here is a current arial view of the mall in almost the exact frame. Notice all the new condominiums that have popped up over the years. This section of Ft. Laud is extremely affluent and ritzy, not to mention the property value has gone through the roof since the 70s. It's a realtor's dream."

Mall history: '50s or '60s - present
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Resource links: 1
Previous entries: 1, 2

Town & Country Shopping Center construction

Fort Worth, Texas - 1958

Aerial photo of the Town & Country Shopping Center as it looked under construction in 1958. An interesting and raw look at the early stages of a shopping center's development (compare this with the finished, modern aerial view).

Can't find much background on this Town & Country Shopping Center, but it appears it's still around today. I've linked to a current aerial below, and do see some passing references to it being made on Google here and there. Don't see an official website or anything much in the way of solid historical info, so if anyone else out there is familiar with this shopping center I'd appreciate a few details. I'm mainly wondering what year it opened, and also, what its current retail health is like these days--assuming it still has some.

Mall history: n/a
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Previous entries: none

Northland Center Mall 1975

Southfield, Michigan - circa 1975

Here's a great overhead view of the Northland Shopping Center in Southfield, Michigan (suburb of Detroit) around 1975, a year after it was expanded and fully enclosed to become a true "shopping mall". Seen here is not only the four-level Hudson's Department Store looming in back, but also the mall's (then) newer JCPenney anchor store (lower-right corner), and the new Montgomery Ward addition, which I believe is the store just to left of Penney's, both of which were added in 1974.

Mall history: 1954 - present
Architect: Victor Gruen
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Lloyd Center Mall aerial view

Portland, Oregon - circa 1960s

Aerial view of Lloyd Center Mall and surrounding area back in the swingin' sixties. The Banfield Expressway (I-84) is also visible here running just south of the shopping center. A few notes via Wikipedia:

"The mall opened August 1, 1960 in its original 100-store, open-air configuration. At the time it was the largest shopping center in Portland and in the Northwest region, and claimed to be the largest in the world. (Actually, it had already been surpassed by the Lakewood Center [1951] and the Roosevelt Field Mall [1956].) Although very close to the downtown retail core, Lloyd Center was the first major retail development to seriously challenge it, aimed almost exclusively at commuters utilizing Portland's then-growing freeway system.

The original anchor stores were Meier & Frank at the center, Lipman & Wolfe anchoring the west end, and JC Penney and Woolworth anchoring the east. Nordstrom initially opened as shore store in 1963, before expanding into a full-line apparel store incrementally in the mall's west wing."

Mall history: 1960 - present
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Ala Moana Shopping Center at night!

Honolulu, Hawaii - circa 196os

A rare nighttime aerial postcard photo of the Ala Moana Shopping Center (this is the Sears anchor side), taken in the '60s I believe--postmark is early '70s, however. I've shared lots of aerial pictures of this mall in the past (see "previous entries" below), but this is the first vintage one I've seen of Ala Moana at night, and I think it looks spectacular! (even considering the low quality of the original card--which it is)

For my retro mall money, this shot's definitely a keeper!

Mall history: 1959 - present
Architect: John Graham Jr.
Current aerial view
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Mall Video: Ala Moana Shopping Center

Ala Moana Shopping Center, Honolulu, HI (2006)

Here's a nice little video tour (via Ben's Tours on YouTube) of the Ala Moana Shopping Center as it looks today. I kind of dug this and thought it might be of some interest here as it helps put the mall into some modern perspective for us (as does this link).

Mall history: 1959 - present
Architect: John Graham Jr.
Current aerial view
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Fairlane Town Center with Dearborn Hyatt & Monorail

Dearborn, Michigan - late '70s early '80s

Aerial view of both the Fairlane Town Center mall (top of photo), along with the nearby Dearborn Hyatt Regency (bottom). If you look closely, you can also make out the actual track for the famous shuttle monorail that I featured in my last Fairlane Town Center entry, as it winds its way across/above the shopping mall's parking lot, over to the adjoining hotel--a trip which took 91 seconds.

Mall history: 1976 - present
Developer: A. Alfred Taubman
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2

Coddingtown Mall

Santa Rosa, California - circa 1960s

Great aerial view of one of Sonoma County's classic shopping destinations, Coddingtown Mall (now partly owned by Simon Property Group, Inc.). The mall is currently anchored by JCPenney, Macy's, and Gottschalk's, and is still a beautiful place to shop even today, according to our resident Northern California malls expert, BIGMallrat, who noted:

"Coddingtown Mall has the most beautiful ceiling I've ever seen in an enclosed shopping center. It reflects the redwood surroundings of Santa Rosa.

The mall is light and bright and really pleasant. The interior corridors are wide and easy to stroll. You can tell this was an open air center at one time because the floor is noticeable higher in some areas."

Mall history: 1961 - present
Developer: Codding Enterprises
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Previous entries: none

(Study image courtesy of Sonoma State University Library)