Harbor Boulevard Overcrossing crosses over I-5.
I-5 still carries a magic and excitement for me, probably because it was the road we always took to Disneyland. Every landmark along I-5 between San Diego and Anaheim became a reminder to me of some trip to Disneyland. Walt Disney carefully selected his Anaheim site for Disneyland largely because of the proximity of I-5.
Hotel Menage is the best place I've found to view I-5 in the area of Disneyland, whether from an upper floor of Hotel Menage, or at ground level in Hotel Menage's parking lot. In the hotel's parking lot, you can get within mere feet of cars passing by on I-5, separated by only a chain link fence. In this modern era, unobstructed views of I-5 are getting rare because of the combination of tall sound walls and closely knit chain link fences atop overcrossings, both of which make photography of I-5 difficult.
Palm Village is the neighborhood on the southeast side of the Harbor-Ball junction. Visually it's not particularly notable, except for its tall soundwall and a tall pine tree that protrudes above the soundwall, overlooking I-5. The signs on incoming streets that identify this community as Palm Village didn't exist in the 1970s, so it's likely most Palm Village residents didn't even know the name of their own community back then.
The tall sound wall is new, and must've been erected at the time of the modern I-5 expansion, around the 1990s. There is even a tall sound wall at the northbound I-5 exit for Harbor Blvd., which is pictured above, and is a curving wall that towers above all the houses below. Just south of Taco Bell, nosy pedestrians can look down directly into the backyards of a couple Palm Village houses near Taco Bell.
The streets in Palm Village are, excluding trailer park streets:
There's not much of interest to say about this Taco Bell, other than it is the approximate site of an earlier Mexican restaurant called Casa Manana. I ate at Casa Manana once in 1980. The main thing I remember about it was that their sign in front made it clear to southbound traffic that a left turn into their lot was legal. (An analogous sign existed at Trailerland directly across the street from Casa Manana, regarding left turns from northbound traffic.) I'd prefer to see that unique old restaurant any day than this rubber stamped chain restaurant. The residents around the Harbor-Ball junction are mostly Hispanic, so this is a good location for a Mexican restaurant of any type. It's one of the few restaurants anywhere around Disneyland where you can get an inexpensive lunch for around $5, other than McDonald's, and McDonald's is considerably less healthy than Taco Bell. (I seem to always get diarrhea from McDonald's food.)
Noting the history of all these businesses at the Harbor-Ball junction proves the modern trend towards commercialism and chain businesses, in restaurants, hotels, and gas stations.
The way it used to be... Advertisement for Casa Manana. (Anaheim Telephone Directory, 1975)
Casa Manana [1975-1982] |
A very unremarkable place, except for its different and more appealing character back in the '70s, from at least 1976-1981. In those years it was a Dawn Oil gas station and was manned by all young ladies in somewhat short dark green shorts, no doubt intended to attract male customers. Next door, on the northwest corner of Ball Road and Palm Street, was a house owned by an old lady named Mrs. Crumby who was out in her front yard every day, kneeling down, gardening. Separating her front yard from the gas station was a low chain link fence, maybe only three feet high, covered with vines. At night the fluorescent lights from the edge of the gas station (where the air and water were) would illuminate the vines and cause the leaves on the her side to look bright green from the light passing through them.
When Mrs. Crumby died, her house went to her son, who sold it as a commercial property for two million dollars. The existing gas station changed companies, the new company razed both old structures, and merged their property with Mrs. Crumby's former property. Now the expanded property is a combination Chevron gas station and Food Mart that shares its parking lot with Taco Bell. The second floor of this building is currently used only as storage of the Food Mart supplies, but will eventually become offices. The architecture is slightly more interesting than it seems at first glance: the second floor windows are all round and look like portholes, and the back side of the building along Palm Street is covered with vines.
The way it used to be...J. O. Crumby [1968-1978]510 W. Ball Rd. Anaheim, CA 92805 (714) 535-6812
Dawn Oil Co. Inc. 2 [1978] |
Created: February 24, 2007
Updated: April 25, 2007