Getting to know Bill Strandberg

Bill is 82 years old, originally from North Dakota but was transferred to Topock in 1968 because of his job at El Paso Gas Co. Despite being only 26 years old, he was already married with kids. In the 70s he got divorced and in 1977 he married Pat Turner. Bill used to live at Catfish Paradise (believe it or not, people used to live there in the 70s) and then when he married Pat, he moved to his new wife's house where he still lives.

His present residence was one of the model homes in Topock/Golden Shores. He explained to me that around 1963 there was a project to sell lots and houses in the area where Golden Shores is today. He says that they built about half a dozen houses including this one on Cerro Colorado and another one on Shore Parkway which belongs to a relative of his wife.

It was very interesting to learn that most of Topock was near the Marina. Bill says that the only bar in town was The Inn that is presently called Hooch's 66. The other bar where people used to hang out was at the Marina. He told me that where the black tank next to the train tracks is today, there used to be a business called Jack's Place. It was a bar, gas station, and you could even sell gold there. He remembers that the person who worked there even had a scale to do the transactions with the people selling the gold. Unfortunately, they closed around the early 70s. He asked me if I knew why that black water tank was there and I had no idea, but he explained to me that it was for steam locomotives.

In that same vicinity there was a café across the two-lane highway route 66. Also, the elementary school and the post office were in that location near the Marina. So based on his explanation I can picture most of the businesses being concentrated in that area, especially with several people living at Catfish Paradise that side of Topock was more popular than the side where we are today.

On the wall of Bill's living room, there is a picture from the beginning of the 20th century showing the two bridges. One bridge for trains and the other one for cars and trucks. He said that the bridge was so narrow that if two trucks crossed at the same time, they would have to pull their rear-view mirrors in. The other bridge was for trains, only one at a time and they could coordinate with the red signal, when one train was passing the other one had to wait.

When I asked him to compare Golden Shores/Topock now with what it used to be then, Bill emphasized that Topock is too crowded today. He mentioned that most of the new residents are coming from California and that bothers him because of their political views. Bill adds "They are not happy in California, so they move over here and then they want to make over here how it was over there!"

As a curiosity I asked Bill about the tree in front of his house that has several glass bottles hanging on some kind of a mast. He said that his wife Pat used to have those bottles hanging on a real tree, but it kept falling down because of the weight. Bill was a welder, so he built a tree-looking support made from steel and she hung the bottles. Today, that bottle tree became popular, and it is even a landmark for some residents. It was interesting to know that there are two identical trees, the other one was auctioned at the fire department and all he knows is that a lady bought it and after two or three years she gave it away and now he has no idea where the tree is.

(Let me know if you know the whereabouts of the second bottle tree).

Bill told me that a long time ago, two guys were building the restaurant where Hooch's is today. The name of the place was "Drakena (not sure about the spelling), he says that what was peculiar about the two construction workers was that they wore no clothes while working.

In sum, it was a pleasure talking to Bill Strandberg! He was very modest saying that he did not have much to tell me in the beginning of the conversation, but when we started talking about how Topock was over five decades ago, it was as if I was watching an old movie narrated by Bill. I'm sure there is a lot more to find out about Topock/Golden Shores and that we will learn on the next issues of this website.