Canadian transplant Dr. A.J. Chandler began acquiring land south of Mesa in 1888. Some Detroit business associates, D.M. Ferry and C.C. Bowen, assisted him with his plan for developing the area and began buying up parcels of land. By 1904, their land, called Chandler Ranch, grew to 18,000 acres (much of which became present-day Chandler). There, he raised ostriches, sheep, and cattle; he grew a multitude of crops, including melons, citrus, peaches, dates, cotton and alfalfa. The completion of Roosevelt Dam in 1911 and its canals, partnered with well water, provided Chandler with a steady supply of water for crops. On May 17, 1912, Dr. Chandler opened the Chandler town site office for business. On that typical, warm pre-Summer day, prospective land buyers enjoyed ice cream cones, lemonade and sandwiches while dreaming of new lives in the desert.  As for pricing, for $100, one could buy an acre of farmland; for $200, a residential lot in town. Business lots ran from $250 to $1,000. Many people resided in tent homes until the fiscal means or time could be found for a real home. Early Chandlerites built these first homes from wood and canvas.

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Chandler on May 17,1912

The first families to settle in Chandler came from a variety of places: California, Canada, the East Coast, the Midwest and Mexico. Hispanic families arrived in Chandler in the early 1900s to work on Chandler Ranch and worked on the construction site of the San Marcos Hotel.  The first areas of residential development in this area began in 1912. Some of the neighborhoods developed near land slated for the first schools on the west side of Arizona Avenue. Families built homes of wood and stucco with sleeping porches on California and Dakota streets, between today’s Chandler Boulevard and Erie Street. Homes also sprang up east of Arizona Avenue between Buffalo Street and Chandler Boulevard. The more affluent families purchased lots and built homes in the Silk Stocking Neighborhood bordered by Erie Street to the north, Delaware Street to the east, Arizona Avenue to the west and Chandler Boulevard to the south. These homes reflected the architectural trends of the time, comprised mostly of Bungalow and Period Revival style. These homes ranged in price from $3,000 to $10,000. The Silk Stocking Neighborhood is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Typical early Chandler homes

In the first three decades of city development, 1910 through the 1930s, Hispanic and African- American families mostly resided in areas outside the city limits. These neighborhoods included Pueblo Alto, which was west of Chandler; the Goodyear area (now Ocotillo) and Southside, south of Chandler’s city limits.