Context Page 2: Southside Neighborhood: 100 Years of Stories and Recipes (Centennial Cookbook)
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Winn’s Addition was initially developed in June of 1919 when realtor and future town councilmember Benjamin M. Crenshaw subdivided the area south of Chandler’s city limits (called Winn’s Addition) and sold lots along Saragosa and Morelos streets. Superintendent of Chandler schools at the time, H.A. Keely, writes about the deal in his memoirs:
“There was twenty acres of land without water rights, just south of town, that could be bought for $4,000. There were irrigation canals on two sides. Why not buy these twenty acres, he (Crenshaw) suggested, subdivide it into 100 lots and sell them to Mexicans at $125 each, $25 down and $7 a month.”
Superintendent Keely, Mr. Crenshaw, and two unnamed buyers each agreed to put in $1,000 for the land purchase. However, the other two buyers pulled out of the deal. Superintendent Keely and Mr. Crenshaw maneuvered their personal funds to get the rest of the money. By 1920, 1,600 people lived in Chandler and its citizens supported the incorporation of Chandler as a town in order to accommodate the needs of the growing community.
When school started in September of 1912, children had to bring their own drinking cups; Arizona teachers received a higher salary than educators in other states; and parents had to buy their children’s text books. A year later, about 483 people lived in the area.
Thoughts about building a larger school were on the horizon; almost a quarter of the population was school-age children. In 1919, taxpayers approved a school bond to buy land to build a grammar school and high school. Children from Southside attended the Chandler Grammar School (also known as the Cleveland School) in the 1910s.
On June 18, 1929, a petition signed by Hispanic residents requested that the school board build an elementary school in their district.
In response, contractor G. F. Williams built a two-room brick building on Saragosa Street, for grades 1-3. The School Board named it the Winn School. Upon reaching the fourth grade, most students attended Cleveland School; or later, St. Mary’s school; and ultimately Chandler High School.