A look at life in metro Phoenix in the 1960s

Cen­tral Avenue in Phoenix, shown in the ear­ly 1960s, was orig­i­nal­ly called Cen­tre, then Cen­ter

A pho­to from 1960 shows Phoenix’s Good Samar­i­tan Hos­pi­tal

Luke Air Force Base, shown in this 1960s-era pho­to, long has been an eco­nom­ic engine for the West Val­ley. It remains a key pilot-train­ing cen­ter.

Phoenix’s Cen­ter Street Bridge was irrepara­bly dam­aged by a flood in the 1960s.

Peo­ple walk through the sub­way between the north and south wings of the Capi­tol in March 1960.

Francine Hard­away hangs out while John Hard­away works on the Sun­nys­lope dome in the late 1960s.

Inter­state 17, the Black Canyon Free­way, was the first free­way in Phoenix. This 1960 pho­to shows a stretch from Bethany Home Road to Grand Avenue.

Before being renamed the Orpheum The­atre was known as the Palace West The­atre in the 1960s.

A roundup of the Dob­son sheep herd near Elliot Road and the rail­road tracks east of Ari­zona Avenue in the ear­ly 1960s.

Mesa High School stu­dents watch the film­ing of “The Explo­sive Gen­er­a­tion” in Decem­ber 1960. The crew of the low-bud­get movie, filmed in black and white, was in town for only two days of shoot­ing. But in that short time, about 350 stu­dents had a chance to meet and min­gle with the stars and get screen time, if for just a brief moment.

Three-wheeled golf carts were pop­u­lar in Sun City dur­ing the 1960s.

Unknown sub­ject stand­ing on the cor­ner with the Scotts­dale Sav­ings Build­ing in the back­ground. In 1960 it also hous­es the Wig­wam Depart­ment Store.