THE ORVILLE NICHOL'S STORY

Dear Mr.Gordon:

   Just a few lines in answer to your request for stories of happenings in the "Olden days".

    In 1939 I completed the work I was doing on the Angeles Forest Hwy. The engineer asked if I would come to Palmdale. I had worked for the past 15 years in the mountains and in the San Gabriel valley. I didn't think I would like any part of the Mojave Desert, but I finally agreed to come to Palmdale and work until they could get another operator. I was still single at that time, so lived at the Pearland Hotel week days and would go to my mother's home in L.A. Friday night. Mint Canyon was a two lane hwy. and if you were unlucky enough to get behind a truck and trailer, you might go miles before you could pass.

   After working a few weeks, I realized how nice it was here and never mentioned leaving again.

    The town was small and I soon knew almost everyone in town. The drugstore was on the corner of Q-9 and Sierra Hwy. Safeway was on the other corner. Ave. Q-9 was paved, but most of the streets were just gravel surface. I started looking for some property where I could have a few fruit trees and garden. Tenth St. E. was a dirt street and only one small house (on the east side) between the Maryott School and Ave. R. It had plenty of irrigation water and was out of town far enough to be just what I wanted so I bought an acre on 10th St. E.

    I hired some men to put up an Adobe garage and work shop. I had just completed the garage when the war started in 1941. I stored my car and tools in the garage and joined the Sea Bees and was in the South Pacific for three years. While trying to sleep in a foxhole in the mud and rain pouring down, I would think of that dry acre in Palmdale. I have loved it ever since.

    I returned to Palmdale in 1946. I couldn't find a house to rent so lived at the Pearland Hotel while I looked for lumber and material to change the garage into a one bedroom apt. Building material was almost impossible to buy after the war, but with the help of a good carpenter friend and a plumber, material was found.

    In November 1947, I married Gladys McKenzie. She had gone to school in Hollywood and lived in the beach area so Palmdale was quite a shock to her. She soon adjusted to the change. We set out lilacs and fruit trees on the acre, also had a milk goat and a dozen hens. We enjoyed farm life in a very small way. We still live at the same address and have enjoyed our very active way of life.

Mr. & Mrs. Orville Nichols
38114 N. 10th St. E.
Palmdale, CA

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