Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Origins of the Black Bus

On page 18 of Ed Sander's latest release of "The Family," he writes that "It was in Sacramento where they seem to have traded the Volkswagen bus as down payment for an old yellow school bus...On October 16, 1967, at the Stewart E. Miller Standard Chevron Station...they outfitted the school bus with a thirty-nine dollar battery and two sets of 825-20 tires costing $216.20." Panamint Patty found an old reverse lookup Sacramento phone directory from 1968 and located the gas station which is now a plain vanilla used car lot at 6401 Stockton Boulevard in the part of town now known as "Little Saigon." This was a surprise, since she expected the gas station would likely be on a freeway on- or off-ramp. However, In 1967, Stockton Boulevard was the main way in and out of town to the south: there was no 99, no 5 connecting Northern and Southern California. And today, there is no Stewart E. Miller Chevron station: So you may say that Patty's adventure was a bust. But then again...So many of these sites are disappearing into the mist forty years later. She hopes that some of you may be inspired to do a little sleuthing of your own and perhaps one of us will find something truly amazing...





5 comments:

Ken619 said...

Very Cool! Never seen picture.

eviliz said...

awesome! happy you and zelda came out un-scathed! thanks again for going there, taking pics and the great write up! you rock!!

Stacey L. said...

Awesome! I'm trying to find out where Dennis Rice lived in North Hollywood...anyone know?

St. Circumstance said...

Excellent!!

Lost Sailor said...

If my memory is correct I think that I read somewhere that he acquired the bus in West Sacramento. I remember a place off of Hwy 80 in West Sacramento that sold school buses back in the 80s. I wonder if it was the same place. Also, a friend of mine lived in an apartment complex at the corner El Camino and Watt Ave back in the 80s. He said it was the same apartment complex that Manson and some of the girls stayed at. Anyone know if that would be the place? By the way, it was also the same apartment complex where Richard Trenton Chase, the Sacramento vampire killer lived.