Week 27: Will Robinson
One of Chandler's original power couples was Will and Grace Robinson. Grace, who was profiled in an earlier column, was the first general manager of the San Marcos Hotel in Chandler. Her husband, Will, was just as accomplished in his own right.
William Henry Robinson was born in Lexington, Illinois, in 1867. He married Grace Perley in 1894. A decade after their marriage, Will was diagnosed with a crippling lung disease, which his wife feared would doom him “to a life of invalidism.” But Will Robinson was not the kind of man to back down form a challenge. Despite his illness, he made a name for himself as an original Chandler pioneer.
Will was a prolific author and novelist. He published several books, primarily stories of the Southwest, the most popular of which was “Under Turquoise Skies.” He also published short stories in various national periodicals, sometimes churning out as many as two or three stories in a week.
Dr. Alexander J. Chandler sought to make use of Robinson's writing skills once his wife became general manager of the hotel. Will was hired as the advertising agent for the San Marcos shortly before its grand opening on November 17, 1913. His job was to sell the idea of the hotel to potential guests across the country. This was easier said than done, as the San Marcos sat in the midst of a year old town, twenty miles from Phoenix and connected by a single spur of railroad track. Despite the long odds against the success of the hotel, Will's pen and Grace's hospitality helped to make the San Marcos one of the greatest destination resorts in the nation in a very short period of time.
Will’s interests and talents went beyond writing and advertising. He was an avid golfer who teamed with expert golf course designer Harry Collis to lay out the original San Marcos golf course. It was originally a nine hole course located a “stone’s throw from the depot.” They began work on construction in mid-September 1913 with a goal of having the course completed in a month. Within two weeks a note in the local newspaper stated that local golf enthusiasts had already taken a turn or two on the new course. The course itself featured water hazards, bunkers, and long approaches with cottonseed oil “greens.” By the second season, those cottonseed greens had been planted in Bermuda grass, making the San Marcos golf course the first grass course in the state of Arizona.
One of Will's most enduring legacies in Chandler was the construction of the Suhwaro Hotel. Located across Buffalo Street from the San Marcos, the Suhwaro was built as an alternative hotel option to the San Marcos. Built in 1916, the Suhwaro was a two story hotel with a façade reminiscent of The Alamo. It only operated as a hotel for about eight years before it was leased to the San Marcos and used as a housing facility for the resort’s staff. Over the course of its life it served several other functions as well. School classes were held in the basement of the building. The Suhwaro’s dining room was a popular eatery for hotel guests and Chandler residents alike. Later the Chandler Woman’s Club operated a 400 book library out of the building. The Suhwaro Hotel building still stands today, housing restaurants and offices.
Will Robinson took his own life in 1938 when the onset of influenza made his illness too much to bear. The Chandler Arizonan called his death a “shock to the entire state.” The Chandler Woman’s Club planted a tree in his memory, saying “Our thought was that its branches and deep roots might in some way express the deep steadfast love that we have always felt for the citizen, the author, the civic worker and the kindly gentleman who has been a familiar figure in our midst for so many, many years.”