Of Happy Days, High Swings and Roller-Rinks - A bit of personal Rosemont West History
By: Mary Ann Nordberg Johnson
(published in the Fall 2002 RWNA newsletter)
I live in the house I grew up in on 12th Street and indeed look out the same bedroom window I had as a child
and cook in the same kitchen that holds so many memories of my mom. It turns out that some lucky few can go home again.
My parents John and Helen Nordberg bought their first and only home on 12th Street in November 1950 when I
was 10 months old. It was on a bare dirt lot in the desert on the then east-side of Tucson, one of the many post-war housing
developments built to shelter the families of the “baby boom” generation. The sturdy little brick home was a palace compared
to the cramped apartments that they had previously occupied in downtown Tucson. My dad patiently built a patio wall around
the perimeter of the backyard and poured a cement slab for a porch. He also began the heroic struggle to grow some trees and
the ever-popular Bermuda grass in the hard soil.
Growing up on 12th Street in the ’50s was a lot like the “Happy Days” TV show– kids ran and played up and
down the streets and in the park without much adult supervision and without fear. The shopping center at Swan and Broadway
was built and we kids were sent on frequent errands to Goodman’s Grocery store or Bentz Variety store for our moms. During
one happy season for the kids (less so for the parents) the city dug a four-foot deep trench right down the middle of the
street for new sewer pipes, leaving three-foot high mounds of dirt on either side and a gigantic hill at the dead end. We
made full use of the possibilities and our moms endured endless extra loads of grimy clothes.
Hoffman Park was a favorite gathering spot and the mature trees there now were planted when I was a child.
The play equipment was limited to a metal slide, a merry-go-round, and some fantastically high swings placed on the north
side hard against the oleander bushes. Arcing high up and touching the very top branches with my toes occupied a lot of my
park time. Other diversions within walking distance were on the west side of Swan south of Bonillas School and included a
swimming pool (now filled and used as a parking lot behind a church) and a skating rink (once a furniture store, now a
Carondelet Health supply facility). The skating rink had old-fashioned wooden plank floors, a live DJ spinning the top 40,
and a skate-up snack bar selling those really greasy french fries and lemon cokes.
In contrast to these simple pleasures, we were not allowed to forget the Cold War. Tucson was surrounded by
18 Titan missile silos and an air-raid siren on the north side of Broadway near Niven sounded a one-minute test blast every
Saturday at 12 noon. The basement of Rincon High held 55-gallon drums of emergency rations piled up in a dark corner and was
meant to be our closest bomb shelter in case of nuclear disaster.
I walked or rode my bicycle to St. Joseph’s elementary school through the 8th grade and then walked through
the empty desert north of Broadway to attend Rincon High School. During my freshman year, the school was on double sessions
due to overcrowding. Session one was from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and session two was from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Relief
came in the form of Palo Verde High School.
My parents continued to live in the house on 12th Street after I left home for college, marriage, and
various jobs around the country. They lived there quite happily for a total of 58 years until my dad’s death in 1996 and my
mom’s in 1998. My mom kept baking her fabulous cinnamon buns and breads and even in retirement my dad persisted in his
struggle to plant a jungle of trees and plants in the caliche-riddled yard I moved back into the house with my youngest son
in 1999. It’s a pleasure to sit under the trees my dad planted and use the same kitchen and recipes that my mom left for us.
I find that the 50+years of the Rosemont West Neighborhood’s history have allowed both the trees and the spirit
of neighborly helpfulness and cooperation to grow and mature. We’re in the middle of the city now not on its fringes. We can
enjoy both the cool greenness of the park and a walk to Barnes and Noble for a Starbucks coffee and the New York Times—what
could be better?
TREES OF HOFFMAN PARK
By Cecily Gilman, December 2001
WEST PERIMETER
There are 5 Mount Atlas pistaches on the west edge of the park. These were probably planted in the last decade.
These pistaches are slow growers and will not reach their maximum of 60 feet for a long time. Their leaves are a lovely
bronzy-red in the late fall. There’s one olive tree at the northwest corner of the park.
NORTH PERIMETER
The largest tree in the park, near the northwest corner, is the red gum, a very large and stately eucalyptus
tree with enormous roots, beautiful gray bark, and tall limbs that may give shelter to a visiting Great horned owl.
There are several African sumacs along the north edge. These South African trees may be male or female and
fruit-eating birds enjoy the green berries of the females.
You may not have noticed two beefwoods on the north edge. They resemble pines, but are not related to pines.
These Australian trees produce tiny “cones” and when you pick one off the ground, you’ll see they are quite different from
pine cones!
EAST PERIMETER
A group of xylosma look like they’re not doing so well. Freezing nights have cleared the branches of
leaves at the park’s edge. These large shrubs have been shaped into small trees over time.
Several of our lovely twisty-trunked olive trees grow on this side. These silvery, gnarly trees produce tasty
olives, but they need to be brined to take out the bitterness. Olive trees grow in the Mediterranean region. Some in Greece
are said to be a thousand years old!
SOUTH PERIMETER
Olives, more pistaches, African sumacs, and privets on this side. The glossy privets usually look a little
worse for wear. They were probably planted in the last decade, but growing on the dirt instead of on the lawn means they’re
not getting enough water. One of the best climbing trees in the park is the large African sumac with its sideways limbs
obliging many a youngster.
INSIDE THE PARK: SOUTHEAST QUADRANT
There is an interesting group of trees around the playground. Rich green laurel-leaf cocculus is a large
shrub that has been made into a tree. It maintains its deep color throughout the year. Seeming to resemble it is a fine
multi-trunked specimen of xylosma. You can see right away a difference in their bark.
An Australian weeping bottlebrush sways just north of the slide. Look closely and you’ll see that the
tree is really three trees growing tight together. Red bottlebrush flowers were blooming in December.
The large South American hybrid mesquite is one of the “Great Trees of Tucson”. Planted in 1949, it has
developed one of the largest and most interesting trunks of any mesquite in Tucson.
The mulberry trees near the play area are leafless in winter. These spreading shade trees from China were
once common all over Tucson. As they die off, they are not replaced due to a 1990 Pima County ban on mulberries. Mulberries,
along with fruiting olive trees, are considered highly allergenic pollen producers. In fact, their pollen producing season
is short, so they should not trouble us for long.
Towering Mexican fan palms form the pillars of the park. These tall palms add height and grace to our park
and we have 20 of them!
INSIDE THE PARK: NORTHEAST QUADRANT
Most notable is the stand of laurel-leaf cocculus. Growing close together these bright evergreen tree/shrubs
from Japan look fresh and beautiful. Touch the pebbly bark.
INSIDE THE PARK: NORTHWEST QUADRANT
Around the ball field it’s not a good idea to have too many trees! Here find one of two Aleppo pines in the
park. These tall, rounded dark green pines from the Mediterranean region are staples in Tucson Parks. They grow well in our
climate. And, heck, we have to plant those living Christmas trees somewhere!
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