Guernewood Village, which was established in the 1920’s, existed prior to Guernewood Park and was located north of Highway 12 (now highway 116). The top photo (early 1940’s) depicts the entrance to the village with Hulbert Creek running behind it. As you strolled under the sign, an amusement walk led the way to a cafe, various game booths including Skee-Ball and a baseball toss with milk bottles. Further down the lane would be an indoor bowling alley, an outdoor amphitheater where some of the Big Bands played. The most popular local band was the Harry Davis’ Guernewood Village Bowl Orchestra.
The bottom photo shows the Guernewood Grocery, known from the 1940’s to the mid-1950’s as Noble’s Grocery Store. It was located just under the Guernewood Village sign and just west of the present-day Garden Grill.
Guernewood Village:
Guernewood Village also featured an outdoor roller skating rink where the tennis courts are today. To complete the recreational scene there was an outdoor movie theater. A housing boom along Old Cazadero Road in the twenties thru the fifties propelled the area into the limelight. Most of the homes were built on stilts to withstand floods. A typical three-bedroom abode in 1952 would set you back approximately $4,000, the same price for that year’s Buick station wagon.
Guernewood Park is featured in Stumptown Daze, a romance/comedy novel that takes place in 1960. For sample chapters, reviews, etc, go to the top of this page and click on “Novels”. For further photos and historical tidbits of Guernewood Park, scroll down and click on “Guernewood Park”. Enjoy.