A site within the Phoenix Mountains Preserve raises a lot of questions about its history. It’s the multi-level foundation of an historical restaurant in Phoenix (at least, in the context of the history of Sunnyslope Village) known as “Cloud Nine”, or “Cloud 9″, long-since leveled. Cloud Nine is considered a landmark from the early 1960′s, visible throughout much of Phoenix at the time due to its elevated perch about half-way up the south side of Shaw Butte in north-central Phoenix. The edges of the roof were lined with multiple neon tubes that caught the eye on many trips around town.

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There’s very little information to be found about the restaurant. Few people seem to remember it and even fewer (none that I’ve talked to) had actually been there. A trip to the Sunnyslope Historical Society yielded little except that it was owned by a gentleman named Dick Barker, whose son still lives somewhere in the Valley and would no doubt be able to share a lot of information about it. Some photos in the file kept at the museum show, presumably,members of the Barker family at the site before construction with Phoenix visible in the background, but no pictures exist of the restaurant in its prime. There’s also a clipping of a Clay Thompson column from the Arizona Republic newspaper with only a short snippet on the history.

According to the curators at the Society’s museum – who said EVERYBODY wants to know about Cloud Nine- customers would bang on a pipe down at the base of the mountain (?) and Mr. Barker or someone would come in a four-wheel-drive vehicle to shuttle them to the restaurant, and back down again after their evening pleasures.

There also remains a tower at the north end of 15th Avenue, at the entrance to the Preserve, the only evidence remaining of what is said to have been a tram that might also have ferried people or, at least, supplies up the mountain.

An article from the volumes of the historic “Sage” newspaper at the Museum discloses that the restaurant was destroyed by fire in the early hours of November 8, 1964, and was never rebuilt. The City of Phoenix took title to the property through condemnation in the early 70′s, part of the preservation of the Phoenix Mountains.

The hike to the site and then on to the top of Shaw Butte is a favorite of mine and Patti’s on weekends throughout the year, with great panoramas of all parts of Phoenix and its surrounds.

Any further information that anyone can share about this landmark would be appreciated by simply entering comments below. It would be a shame for that part of Phoenix history to fade away with no more than this hint as to its existence.

For some forum comments regarding the site, go here.
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A shout out to Richard Allen of Gemland.net, the source of the photos in this post.