The History of Chandler AZ

Have you wondered about the history of Chandler AZ? Read on to learn more about this city from our weight loss specialist in Chandler.


Chandler AZ

Chandler, Arizona was named for a veterinarian, Dr. A. J. Chandler, who settled in the area in 1891. In 1891, Dr. Alexander John Chandler, the first veterinary surgeon in Arizona Territory, settled on a ranch south of Mesa, studying irrigation engineering. By 1900, he had acquired 18,000 acres (73 km2) of land, and began drawing up plans for a townsite on what was then known as the Chandler Ranch. The townsite office opened on May 16, 1912. At the time, Chandler consisted of three wooden shacks - the townsite office, a dining hall and the Morrison Grocery. A billboard marked the site of the elegant future Hotel San Marcos.

Dr. Chandler's ambitious plan was a landscaped central park surrounded by businesses. Walkways in front of the buildings would be covered by a trellis-like roof, supported by colonnades. All this was made possible, in part because Dr. Chandler studied the relatively new science of irrigation engineering. He was instrumental in building an early system of canals. For many years, Chandler and the man who founded it thrived. The Great Depression was not a devastating experience for most of Chandler's residents. The original townsite was bounded by Galveston Street on the north, Frye Road on the south, Hartford Street on the west, and Hamilton Street on the east. By 1913, a town center had become established, featuring the Hotel San Marcos, which also had the first grass golf course in the state. Chandler High School was established in 1914. Chandler incorporated on Feb. 16, 1920, after 186 residents petitioned the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to approve incorporation.

Town founder, Dr. A.J. Chandler, was chosen as the president of the first Town Council and the town's first mayor. Doctor Chandler passes away: During World War II, you had the town's population doubling and by 1950 - the year in which Doctor Chandler passed away, it had reached 3,800. On May 24, 1954, Chandler became a city. Chandler's borders have been expanding ever since, and its population too continues to grow. On the economic front while agriculture continues to be an important element, today Chandler is a manufacturing and electronics hub. Since the early 1990s, the City of Chandler has experienced exponential growth, ranking among the fastest-growing municipalities in the country. Nearly 100,000 homes dot the landscape today and the population has surged to more than 238,000 residents as of 2010. The heart of Chandler remains its revitalized historic downtown, which includes the award-winning Chandler City Hall and the Chandler Center for the Arts.


Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Chandler has a total area of 58.0 square miles (150 km2), of which 57.9 square miles (150 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) of it (0.17%) is water.Chandler has reached its physical limits save for some remaining county islands and cannot expand outward anymore due to being bound in by the Gila River Indian Community, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and Phoenix.


Demographics

Median household income in Chandler, AZ is $77,278. Males in Chandler, AZ have an average income that is 1.31 times higher than the average income of females, which is $46,169. The income inequality in Chandler, AZ (measured using the Gini index) is 0.468, which is lower than than the national average.