Arizona Oddities

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Your Guides
  • Departments
    • Art
    • Dose of History
    • Culture
    • Natural Surroundings
    • Odd Observations
    • Weather Talk
    • Food & Dining
    • Small Town Scene
    • Recreation
    • Only in Arizona
  • Get the Books
  • Contact Us

logo

Arizona Oddities

  • Home
  • Your Guides
  • Departments
    • Art
    • Dose of History
    • Culture
    • Natural Surroundings
    • Odd Observations
    • Weather Talk
    • Food & Dining
    • Small Town Scene
    • Recreation
    • Only in Arizona
  • Get the Books
  • Contact Us
Odd ObservationsValley of the Sun
Home›Odd Observations›What’s the Story Behind the Building Foundation on Top of Shaw Butte?

What’s the Story Behind the Building Foundation on Top of Shaw Butte?

By Andrea Aker
March 7, 2013
4281
1

Excerpt from Valley 101: A Slightly Skewed Guide to Living in Arizona, a collection of Clay Thompson’s columns for The Arizona Republic. (Originally published January 21, 2001.)

Cloud 9 foundation on top of Shaw Butte in Phoenix. Photo user submitted on Yelp.

Cloud 9 foundation on top of Shaw Butte in Phoenix. Photo user-submitted on Yelp by Mr. K.

Q: Near the top of Shaw Butte in Phoenix is the foundation of what must have been a large building. What was it?

A: We turned to the exceedingly helpful Jeff Spellman, a Phoenix parks ranger and Sunnyslope native who knew all about it.

The foundation is all that remains of the Cloud 9 restaurant, which in its day was one of Phoenix’s swankiest eateries.

Patrons were shuttled up the rough road to the Cloud 9 in four-wheel-drive vehicles and, as they ate, enjoyed spectacular views of the Valley.

Regrettably, the Cloud 9 burned to the ground early on Nov. 8, 1964, and was never rebuilt. The site later became part of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve system.

How to get there: Take SR 51 North to Cactus Road. Turn left. Cactus becomes Thunderbird Road. Turn south on 7th Street. The visitor center and parking is located on the right side of the road. Learn more from the City of Phoenix.

(Visited 1,461 times, 1 visits today)

Related Posts:

  1. Why Does Downtown Phoenix Seem to Have Two Downtowns?
  2. Pyramid on Poston Butte Honors Old Arizona Freethinker
  3. Spherical Building in Yucca a Monument to Failed Real Estate Project
  4. The Story Behind Cudia Neighborhood in Phoenix
  5. That Arch Over McDowell Road has a Name and Story
Tagsmountainsphoenix

1 comment

  1. SaraD 8 March, 2013 at 22:37 Reply

    I remember my father talking about a business dinner he went to at Cloud 9, when I was a kid. I wanted to go there sometime, but he always said Pinnacle Peak Patio was just as novel and interesting, and much closer. Cloud 9 went and burned down before I could change his mind. Thanks for posting this.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Arizona Oddities Archive

Most Popular Posts

  • How to Keep Scorpions Away from Your Home
  • How to Keep Javelinas Away from Your Yard
  • What’s With All the Backyard Concrete-Block Fences…
  • Did You Know it’s Against the Law to Grow…
  • Four Deserts, One State

This Week Past Years

2019

  • 5 Facts About the Southwest’s Strangest, Smelliest Inhabitant – The Javelina

2015

  • A Beer Between the Forked Tree in Flagstaff

2014

  • Mow the Lake?

2013

  • Peach-Faced Love Birds Live in the Valley?

2012

  • Walk in the Path of Ancient Hohokam at Sears-Kay Ruin
  • Rest Stop Marks Border of Gadsden Purchase

2010

  • Why Do People Paint Citrus Tree Trunks White?
  • Elephant Feet in Northern Arizona?
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Find a Famous Writer and Explorer's Mountain Retreat in Greer

    Find a Famous Writer and Explorer’s Historic Mountain Retreat in Greer

    By Taylor Haynes
    July 31, 2020
  • thousands of Mexican free tail bats make Phoenix tunnel their summer home

    Thousands of Mexican Free-Tail Bats Make Phoenix Tunnel Their Summer Home

    By Taylor Haynes
    July 17, 2020
  • How to Keep Scorpions Away from Your Home

    By Andrea Aker
    January 3, 2011
  • Javelina

    How to Keep Javelinas Away from Your Yard

    By Andrea Aker
    November 23, 2011
  • Phil Motta
    on
    August 27, 2021

    Why Does Downtown Phoenix Seem to Have Two Downtowns?

    I know this post ...
  • Carol
    on
    October 17, 2020

    The Tucson Artifacts are the Southwest’s Greatest Hoax

    lol ... these "clues" ...

Follow us

© Copyright 2009 – 2023 Aker Ink, LLC :: Arizona Oddities is published by Aker Ink.