Bill Baker is one of the few people who can visualize Downtown Phoenix stretching back to the Great Depression in the late 1930s. “Downtown was where people went for most things,” recalls the 90-year-old Phoenix native. “For doctors, dentists, and lawyers, many had offices in the Luhrs Tower and the Professional Building. But for basic supplies, there was a stretch of Washington Street, just east of Central Avenue, where a lot of the action happened.” Baker says that among the banks, jewelry, and drug stores, his family went to three large stores: J.J. Newberry, F.W. Woolworth, and S.H. Kress,...

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