by jbchristy » Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:00 pm
Our family moved into the neighborhood across Bullard Ave from Lakeside's eventual location when the houses were built in 1955. Most of our dads were WWII vets buying houses with CalVet loans. Lakeside was on the south side of Bullard and just east of Blackstone and east of the eucalyptus grove on the SE corner of Bullard and Blackstone. We kids took swimming lessons from Soupy in the 1960s and had a summer pass, so we swam at the pool almost every day. The "Lake" was the water-filled middle of the auto racetrack adjacent and south of Lakeside. I remember the auto races back in the 1950s and huge 4th of July fireworks shows. After the lake was filled some friends and I would tie large branches together and float in this raft around the shallow lake, sometimes catching blue gill. We spent many summer days there.
On the NE corner of Blackstone and Bullard was Dominic's small grocery store, Ken's barber shop and a beauty shop. Dominique was a jolly proprietor and friendly to us kids. His store had a tube-tester which came in handy when our old TV needed a replacement, which was quite often. These businesses were just north from the corner gas station (Chevron). A Texaco station was on the NW corner and a Shell on the SW corner of Blackstone and Bullard. An old independent store/gas station was right at the SE corner, but abandoned fairly early and eventually Montgomery Ward developed the whole corner. A few eucalyptus trees remain.
When we moved there in 1955, we were the only neighborhood amidst the fields and orchards of the general area which at the time was in the county. I remember one week when our car was inoperable, walking with my dad all the way to McMillan's grocery story at Shaw and Blackstone. There were no businesses along Blackstone at the time. In the other direction, Pinedale was a little, thriving community NW of Herndon and Blackstone. It is amazing to visit Fresno now and see the development all the way to the River.
Our family moved into the neighborhood across Bullard Ave from Lakeside's eventual location when the houses were built in 1955. Most of our dads were WWII vets buying houses with CalVet loans. Lakeside was on the south side of Bullard and just east of Blackstone and east of the eucalyptus grove on the SE corner of Bullard and Blackstone. We kids took swimming lessons from Soupy in the 1960s and had a summer pass, so we swam at the pool almost every day. The "Lake" was the water-filled middle of the auto racetrack adjacent and south of Lakeside. I remember the auto races back in the 1950s and huge 4th of July fireworks shows. After the lake was filled some friends and I would tie large branches together and float in this raft around the shallow lake, sometimes catching blue gill. We spent many summer days there.
On the NE corner of Blackstone and Bullard was Dominic's small grocery store, Ken's barber shop and a beauty shop. Dominique was a jolly proprietor and friendly to us kids. His store had a tube-tester which came in handy when our old TV needed a replacement, which was quite often. These businesses were just north from the corner gas station (Chevron). A Texaco station was on the NW corner and a Shell on the SW corner of Blackstone and Bullard. An old independent store/gas station was right at the SE corner, but abandoned fairly early and eventually Montgomery Ward developed the whole corner. A few eucalyptus trees remain.
When we moved there in 1955, we were the only neighborhood amidst the fields and orchards of the general area which at the time was in the county. I remember one week when our car was inoperable, walking with my dad all the way to McMillan's grocery story at Shaw and Blackstone. There were no businesses along Blackstone at the time. In the other direction, Pinedale was a little, thriving community NW of Herndon and Blackstone. It is amazing to visit Fresno now and see the development all the way to the River.