01.1 Building the Dream
- Chandler Museum
Dr. A. J. Chandler, and his business partners in the Mesa Improvement Company had big ideas for the land thet makes up Chandler today. On May 16, 1912, after Roosevelt Dam was completed and seemed to ensure a steady supply of water for the Salt River Valley, Dr. Chandler and the Mesa Improvement Company opened up about 18,000 acres of land for sale to anyone who saw a bright future in the Arizona sun. Across the country, from Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, and Los Angeles to name a few, Dr. Chandler and his business associates spread the word about "the sure bet" that the new community of Chandler, AZ was to be. Calling it the Pasadena of Arizona, the new Chandler Arizonan newspaper described it as, "The winter climate of the Pasadena of Arizona is even more agreeable than that of Pasadena, California, probably the wealthiest tourist city on the continent. "
At the center of the Community was a grantd resort hotel. Far from your average hotel, it was to be the finest hostlry in the county marketed especially for the occupants of the cold cities of the East.
On that sunny May day, or Land Sales Day as it became known, Dr. Chandler and the Improvement Company had quite few things to show potential investors. As the specially chartered trains and caravans of cars arrived from Phoeni\x, Tempe and Mesa, the passengers saw a well planned towniste, a new canal with ample water, and new concrete curbs along the wide streets.