Origin of Hollywood Sidewalk Stars in Downtown Phoenix</h1> <article> <h1>Origin of Hollywood Sidewalk Stars in Downtown Phoenix</h1> <p>Andrea Aker — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:42:01 +0000</p> Q: What is the meaning of the stars with the names of old celebrities in them on the sidewalk at the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street? A: This was a deeply disturbing question, not because of the stars themselves, but because we had to get up off our pert little butt and actually walk over there and check it out. And it occurred to us that we had trod that very stretch of sidewalk hundreds of times and never noticed the stars before. The stars—eight of them—are a reflection of the past glory of the Hotel San Carlos, 202 N. Central Ave., which is still a very nice hotel, but at one time was Phoenix’s premier hostelry. And when Hollywood stars were in town, that’s where they stayed. After all, it offered elevators and “automatic cooled air,” a kind of forerunner of air-conditioning, and ice-water spigots in the rooms. 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The most prominent is Spider Rock, a towering sandstone obelisk that rises almost 900 feet above the floor of the canyon. Others aren't quite as spectacular, but they're nearly as large and they look like gigantic slates, kids mittens and huge lumps of red clay that were just dumped there by some giant sculptor. Related Posts:<ol><li><a href='http://arizonaoddities.com/2009/10/a-scary-glimplse-down-the-skywalk-at-the-grand-canyon/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: A Scary Glimplse Down the Skywalk at the Grand Canyon'>A Scary Glimplse Down the Skywalk at the Grand Canyon</a></li> <li><a href='http://arizonaoddities.com/2009/11/antelope-canyon-an-abstract-in-sandstone/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Antelope Canyon: An Abstract in Sandstone'>Antelope Canyon: An Abstract in Sandstone</a></li> <li><a href='http://arizonaoddities.com/2009/08/think-arizona-is-the-grand-canyon-state-think-again/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Think Arizona is the Grand Canyon State? Think Again.'>Think Arizona is the Grand Canyon State? Think Again.</a></li> </ol><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ArizonaOddities?a=BK8YMF5MSWI:zxiYZ1ZqMQg:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ArizonaOddities?a=BK8YMF5MSWI:zxiYZ1ZqMQg:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ArizonaOddities?a=BK8YMF5MSWI:zxiYZ1ZqMQg:qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ArizonaOddities?a=BK8YMF5MSWI:zxiYZ1ZqMQg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Life in Old Boom Towns with Jackass Prospectors</h1> <p>Andrea Aker — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:41:19 +0000</p> The gold and silver rushes, more than anything else, provided the inspiration for people to give up relative comforts in the East and come west. Opportunity to get rich quick is a uniquely American article of faith and was virtually born in the West. With a single lucky break, one could instantly make more money than he could lend, spend in a lifetime. So, it was "off to Californey, Coloradie, or Arizonie with my wash pan on my knee," looking for, as Bret Harte said, "a fresh deal all around." Most were either trying to get something or get away from something. It was called the "greatest mass migration of greenhorns since the children of Israel set out in search of Canaan." 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It’s a real distinct scent, not flowery or sweet, but more like a fresh, clean smell. A: Your question worked its way to the top of the pile at just the right time — Tuesday, when we had that delightful morning rain. As soon as the skies cleared we leapt into the Valley 101 mobile research lab, and set out to find the source of the scent. You are right. There was a truly remarkable aroma in the air, which we soon traced to a half-eaten Big Mac under the floor mats in the backseat of the Valley 101 mobile research lab. While we would not describe this as “fresh/earthy” it was definitely distinctive. After a stop at the car wash, we sought advice from the estimable Carolyn O’Malley, executive director of the Desert Botanical Gardens and an honorary member of the Valley 101 faculty. 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That's not a criticism. It's a compliment. Literally and figuratively, birds are a major component of the Santa Cruz Tourism Council's effort to draw visitors to the state's smallest county. The area is well known as a birders' hot spot, and that's probably why birds of another feather have landed in 1o different locales. They are all sculptures, spread across the county at resorts, offices and parks as beacons that direct visitors to places of interest. 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In less than two decades, the monks who live there have built churches, chapels, housing units, maintenance facilities, rotundas, fountains and sandstone walkways and converted an otherwise arid piece of ground into a lush, almost tropical, garden where greenery covers almost every square foot of the once-barren landscape. 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The lawless Arizona territory attracted the wide gamut of frontier con men ranging from tin horn gamblers to stock swindlers. One was Doctor Richard Flower. Doc Flower wasn’t really a doctor. He earned his living for a time selling cure-all bottled medicine. Although Doc Flower claimed his recipe could cure everything from baldness to toothaches, it really had no redeeming medicinal value. It did contain enough alcohol to mellow its imbibers enough that nobody felt ripped off. Anyhow, that's how he came to be called Doctor Flower. Doc Flower eventually grew weary of small-time scheming and decided to play for higher stakes. Fortunes were being made in the Arizona mines and since Doc Flower didn't have a bonafide mine of his own, he decided to create one. 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You know, we spent hours flipping pancakes, doing day labor, weeding soybeans to get through college, followed by years of crawling over the broken reputations of colleagues and competitors to arrive at a place of relative safety in journalism, and it comes to this: Do your feet get bigger when you move to the desert? 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No one seems to know anything about what it is, why it's there and who put it there. It is three weathered tree trunks (they look like junipers) standing next to each other, and someone painted strange faces on them. The images on the two smaller trunks are badly faded, but the face on the tallest one is still in relatively good shape. It resembles "The Scream," the famous expressionist painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. 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Duppa was a well-educated world traveler who, it was rumored, was given a substantial allowance by his wealthy English relatives to remain permanently at large. His raucous lifestyle, highlighted by epic bouts with dipsomania was, no doubt, a source of embarrassment to his relatives and contributed to his banishment to Arizona. It was said "Lord" Duppa was fluent in seven languages. Unfortunately for his listeners, the erudite eccentric spoke all seven in the same paragraph. Duppa was a member of a committee chosen to select a name for the new settlement on the banks of the Salt River one sunny October day in 1870. 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