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Description
The Carmichael Shopping Center at the intersection of Fair Oaks Boulevard, Palm and Marconi Avenues was an oasis of commerce in the days when properties were large and the area sparsely settled. In the 1920s a former fruit packing house refitted as a grocery store and soda fountain shared the corner of Palm with the Carmichael Garage and various family-run fruit stands. Realtor Daniel Carmichael offered lots for sale from his newly-purchased Carmichael Colony #1 in 1909 with the boundaries set at the H Street Road (Fair Oaks Boulevard), the American River and San Juan Avenue. It was not until 1911 that the property shown above became available and it was soon planted in orange and peach orchards. To the left of Marconi Avenue lies the Hillside Shopping Center and commercial buildings that in 1957 housed a realty company, Western Auto Store, a retail plumbing outlet, Brownie’s Fountain Grill and the TV Radio Den. On the right of Marconi, the site of Carmichael’s main shopping center prior to the early 1960s, is a mix of the old and new, with a few original structures still standing on Fair Oaks and Marconi, but the buildings in the shopping center on the right hand side of Fair Oaks Boulevard, Carmichael Plaza (including the Army Navy Surplus Store and Sather Jewelers) are long gone. At one time there was a Lucky’s Market on one side of the street and Raley’s on the other side and colorfully-named businesses included the Loading Chute, Banjo Alley and the Crab Pot. There were pharmacies on either side of Marconi and the only larger complex of businesses this side of downtown was at Town & Country Village on Marconi and Fulton or Country Club Center at Marconi and Watt. The corner not visible on the lower-left side still contains a few of the original wooden businesses including Serritella’s Restaurant, a Carmichael fixture for decades.
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