History of The Mile

1920

Ira Golden Silver opened the first Ford dealership on National Avenue in the Twenties. Tin Pan Alley cranked out songs celebrating America's new mobility, like 'Henry's Made a Lady Out of Lizzie". As Stutz Bearcats and Chrysler Imperials rushed past the old Hunt Machine Shop, Hollywood produced a film titled "Six Cylinder Love". Tail heavy Packards and Buicks cruised National Avenue headed over to the west side of town where old brick basements made excellent cool hiding places for their cargo of hooch. By the late Twenties, Chevrolet began to outsell Henry's basic Model T and in 1929, Murphy Chevrolet was selling fast snappy roadsters to flappers and Hollywood stars. National Avenue was graced with the extravagant autos of Hollywood's movie kings and queens as they motored south to the resorts of Mexico during the Thirties. Clark Gable and his Packard Twin Six roadster, Jean Harlow's Packard Phaeton and Gary Cooper's Dusenberg all motored by the prosperous dealerships of National City.

1904 • 1906 • 1920 • 1941 • 1955 • 1965 • 1970 • 1990s • Development