'E' for enduring: The oldest local neighborhood

Source: Daily Press, Victorville, Calif.迷你倉Aug. 25--VICTORVILLE -- Long before the Mall of Victor Valley was built, before the nonstop commuter congestion of Bear Valley Road, downtown Victorville was the cradle of the High Desert's biggest city.Victorville's E Street and its neighborhoods of simple homes near the Mojave River north of the railroad tracks were mostly forgotten by developers who spread the city south and west starting in the 1950s.Today, newer residents to the area know little of E Street's history, while others, such as Harold Holmes, have labeled the current condition of one of the city's first neighborhoods as "a wretched hive of scum and villainy.""I've never been down there, but I hear it's full of drunks, gangs and the homeless," said Holmes, 42, who has lived in southern Victorville all his life. "That is why it's called the other side of the tracks."Many have adopted Holmes' perception of the neighborhood, made up mainly of about 50 homes, two churches, a school campus, a city park and a building that was once the city's original jail.But teacher Rocky Lockwood, who used to play softball at Eva Dell Park, described the E Street neighborhood as "a place frozen in time and circumstance."Those who live there might agree. Through the economic booms and busts of Victorville, to them E Street remains largely unchanged from what it has been for 100 years: a place they call home.Jesse Camerena, 76, who lives in the house he built 55 years ago with his wife, Rosie, described E Street as a typical Victorville neighborhood that he would walk through at night if he was not bedridden."I built my house for $8,000 and it was paid for a long time ago," Camerena said. "Most of the houses in this area are being rented out for about $500 to $600 a month."Camerena said a "handful of old-timers" still own their homes, but most are families that rent for a few months, then move on to places such as Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Texas.Camerena praises the City of Victorville for its maintenance of the neighborhood streets and Eva Dell Park."There is somebody from the city here almost everyday, cleaning streets, cutting the park grass," Camerena said.Ruben Varela, a second generation E Street resident with a flowing white beard, said he still longs for the day when children respected adults and neighbors helped each other."Back then, kids did not cuss, but now days kids will tell you off and threaten you," Varela said. "Back then kids would get whipped for what they did."Varela, 63, said his ancestors were born in the High Desert, when the area was still part of Mexico."We love living here, I have fruit trees and even have some chickens," Varela said. "We've been here all our lives; we'll be here until it's time to go."Varela said the only crime he'd seen recently was in April, when a car crashed into his property after a teenager attending a nearby house party was shot and killed.Doris Slider, secretary of First Missionary Baptist Church on First Street, said over the past 30 years she's known the area as one of the most "peaceful and quiet spots in the High Desert.""I'm here almost every day and we've never had any problems," Slider said. "Many of the homeless that come through from the river are respectful and they look out for us."Slider said the area had not changed much over the past three decades, except for文件倉the closure of George Air Force Base in the 1990s."We lost a lot of traffic that came through downtown and about 50 people from our church left," Slider said. "Almost all of our congregation comes from other parts of the High Desert."Local community leader Felix Diaz, who was born in Victorville almost 80 years ago, said the E Street neighborhood has had a hard time trying to escape its negative reputation."Many people believe that the area is a gang-infested sewer, but it's not," said Diaz, who once attended a segregated Eva Dell School near E Street and still has friends who live in the neighborhood because "they want to.""I still make it a point to visit the area on a regular basis," he continued. "There are good people down there."Gabino De La Cruz, the reporter's father, was born in Victorville in 1924 and said he recalled living in a three-walled house on Fourth and E streets before he started a five-decade career at the nearby Southwestern Portland Cement Co. as a teenager."Growing up, we had everything in one place. We used to think driving to Palmdale Road was like driving to San Bernardino," De La Cruz said. "Before the 1950s, blacks and Mexicans had to be back on the north side of the tracks before sundown."Racial divides forced the neighborhood to be more self-contained than it is today. Both De La Cruz and Diaz said they remember when the E Street area included a hotel, a barber shop, a restaurant, a grocery store, a blacksmith, a movie house and a USO Center for non-whites.Standing in a classroom of the former Goodwill High School campus, Deloris Williams begins the long process of packing up after weeks of teaching 250 students about science, technology, engineering and math.Williams, who is the president and CEO of Millionaire Mind Kids, once ran a successful information technology company in Los Angeles, making $150,000 a year.More than a decade later, Williams, along with her grandchildren, Kahlil and Najah Williams -- both preparing for college -- operate a summer camp and a successful financial literacy program for disadvantaged children, affording them opportunities they may have never had otherwise."Don't let the neighborhood fool you," Williams said. "Some of the brightest minds in the High Desert have come through our class and some live right here. Believe me, this is a neighborhood of hope and change."Well-kept Eva Dell Park is a site for sports games, parties and nonprofit events."It used to be home to a lot of homeless, but I think they've moved on or have just hunkered down at the river," said Jose Cueto, 72, a retired machinist who visits the park regularly and takes advantage of the Victorville Riverwalk at Eva Dell Park.Camerena said most of the homeless don't venture through the neighborhood and stay closer to the river, toward the cement plant and freeway.Cueto said he's heard of some violence in the park but is skeptical that it's more dangerous than other city parks."Being downtown and so close to the river makes it scary for some people," Cueto said. "I feel safer at Eva Dell over Hook Park, or even James Woody in Apple Valley."Rene De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Daily Press (Victorville, Calif.) 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