I survived Walnut Creek, CA during the early and late 70s

It’s true I did survive this town in that decade.


I remember going grocery shopping with my mother at the Safeway that used to be located where Chase Bank now is on South Main Street. And, I remember looking for clothes at Capwell’s and Joseph Magnin. Actually, my favorite store of all was the Woolworth’s in Broadway Plaza, back when there was a parking lot where California Pizza Kitchen now is.

But I didn’t just get the idea
to write about growing up in Walnut Creek in the 1970s. I recently became a member of a Facebook page with just that name, I survived Walnut Creek, CA during the early and late 70s.

There, members are sharing photos and memories, like this one above of then-Present Gerald Ford visiting Walnut Creek in May 1976. Or this one of the Safeway my mom and I used to shop at on Saturdays. I loved going grocery shopping with my mother.

Some other choice comments have to do with top party spots in Walnut Creek. Hmm, I didn’t know about any of these: “The dugouts at the Civic Park softball field, the bus stop at Lakewood, Rudgear Park, behnd Lippert’s, behind Pinky’s. Ahhh, the list is endless,” wrote
one person commenting.

And, yes, I have a memory of getting out of school to go downtown and see President Ford speak.

14 thoughts on “I survived Walnut Creek, CA during the early and late 70s

  1. I didn't grow up here at that time, but I do remember when there was only a parking lot where the California Pizza kitchen is!
    I arrived here in 1988, and my second daughter was born here. She loved looking at all the old pictures of her high school and the town. Thanks for posting it.

    Walnut Creek sure has changed!!

    Like

  2. Holy Ghost Hall, Dan O'Hara, the lit peace symbol at Christmas on the bank building across Newell from Kaiser. Worked at Kaiser from 1969 to 1997.

    Like

  3. I grew up there in the 50s, before there was a freeway! Nordstrum used to be a Bruener's but before that, it was a Lucky grocery store! And that copper fountain at the edge of the parking lot that's now CA Pizza Kitchen? what ever happened to that, I wonder.

    Like

  4. I too grew up near Walnut Creek in the Seventies and Eighties in Alamo. I think the building where Nordstroms is was a Bullocks, not a Brueners. I vaguely remember the candy store. There was a supermarket that was closed at the intersection of South Main and Newell. Was it the Safeway? We bought clothes there when some liquidator rented it in the seventies. Worked at Capwell's for years in high school and college. Still dream about it, it was a fantastic place to work and shop back then. In Baltimore now, I actually long for the quieter, old Broadway Plaza. It was pretty and serene.

    Like

  5. Right, it was Bullocks. I can't remember if it came before or after Lucky. I bet none of you remember the ice cream ant the bus depot on the corner of Locust and main.

    Dottie Rich

    Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s