Context Part 3: Southside Neighborhood: 100 Years of Stories and Recipes (Centennial Cookbook)

In the 1980s, the face of the city slowly began to change. Farmland in the northern and western sections of Chandler disappeared as subdivisions and shopping centers appeared, spurred by the growth of manufacturing companies in that area. Intel built its first plant in 1980, and by 2010 had added three more. Chandler enticed the Milwaukee Brewers for spring training with a stadium in the Ocotillo area in the mid-1980s, although the team soon moved on to greener ball fields. As the population grew, the City quickly constructed more parks, opened a large downtown library and branches, and expanded other services. In the late 1980s residents could finally attend concerts at a new Center for the Arts, enroll in local college courses with the opening of Chandler-Gilbert Community College, and admire the newly renovated historic San Marcos Hotel, the first Chandler building added to the National Register of Historic Places.

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In 1990, former Southside resident Coy Payne won the mayoral election, becoming the first African-American mayor of Chandler, and in Arizona. Coy had grown up in the neighborhood. After returning from the Korean War, he utilized the G.I. Bill to attend Arizona State University. There he received a degree in Education in1958. He returned to Chandler and at various times taught at Winn School, Denver (San Marcos) Elementary School, and Chandler Junior High. While he was teaching, he devoted himself to the community and worked with Mayor George Nader. From there he was appointed to the Human Relations Commission, then Chairman of the Housing Authority. Starting in 1982, Mayor Payne served eight years on the City Council. In 1990, he ran for mayor:

“I won the election. I guess some people were calling me ‘Landslide Payne’ because I overcame my opponent (Jane DeComb) by a vote of 2 to 1… The people of Chandler gave me that opportunity. They did not look at the color of my skin, nor my ethnicity, they did not see me as anything but a person who could do a job.”^[1]

During his tenure, Payne supported the creation of more parks and recreation for the community, promoted public safety, negotiated the expansion of Motorola between the company and residents, piloted a recycling program, worked with the Arizona Department of Transportation for more transportation options for Chandler’s residents, and pushed downtown redevelopment forward.

Chandler developed into a “boomburb,” with double digit rates of population growth during Mayor Payne’s tenure and into the 2000s. In recent years Chandler's borders have expanded south and east to cover over 70 square miles and the population exploded -- from 30,000 in 1980 to nearly 240,000 today. The economic base of Chandler rapidly shifted from agriculture to manufacturing and high-tech industries like Iridium, Orbital and Microchip. Where once fields of cotton and alfalfa stretched as far as the eye could see, rows of homes now rise. The Chandler Unified School district busily added more elementary schools. In 1998, the district opened the second high school in the city, Hamilton High. Two more soon followed. In 2001, a new freeway and the Chandler Fashion Center opened in west Chandler, important elements of the city’s economic growth. Today, while residents may no longer see the Dobson family sheep grazing in farm fields, they can visit the historic heart of Chandler and shop or eat in the restored historic downtown businesses. Even though Dugan’s forty-year old dairy no longer exists to offer tours to groups of excited children, today’s children can tour Chandler historic buildings at Tumbleweed Ranch.  Residents can enjoy long-standing traditions like the 55-year old Tumbleweed Tree Lighting, or the 24-year old Ostrich Festival.

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As in other aspects of Chandler’s history that still exist, the Southside neighborhood still provides a home to families today. During the past three decades, Southside has changed immensely. Most of the original families moved out, and new families moved into the homes. Most families rent rather than own homes. While new faces have appeared, the neighborhood has consistently remained primarily Hispanic and African American, as in its beginning years.^[2]Neighborhood leader Charles Payne says that a lack of employment caused the younger generation to move out; as the older generation passed away and left the property to their children, the children mostly sold it or rented it out.^[3]  The area fell to blight and began to experience issues similar to inner cities.

Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Grace Memorial Church of God in Christ, Pentecost Church of Jesus Christ, and the Free Methodist Church are still in the neighborhood. Membership at the churches mostly consists of people from outside the neighborhood. Coy Payne stated that in the past, if you didn’t attend Mt. Olive, you at least at had friends that went there.^[4]Once familiar gathering places have disappeared, such as the Blue Bonnet Café, the Blue Front Café, El Mambo, Southside Tavern and the Cozy Café.

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Jose Gonzalez, pastor at the Free Methodist Church on Arizona Avenue, said that the neighborhood changed one hundred percent since he came in the 1980s .^[5]  The government remodeled buildings, and built new houses. In the 1980s and 1990s the local Circle K became a spot for field workers to gather to pick up a bus ride to farm work that moved farther and farther away.^[6]

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Caption: Neighborhood Cleanup, 1972

Starting in the 1970s, organizations within the neighborhood, the City of Chandler, and Federal Government implemented programs to resolve some of the problems residents were experiencing. For example, a Federal program recruited young men in the neighborhood to participate in a neighborhood clean-up over the summer. “Self Help,” a program run out of Mt. Olive Baptist Church, extends as a secular arm of the church, with a mission to address social needs in Southside. Mt. Olive also created an adult education program where adults could get their GED. Coy Payne remembers being a teacher to his mother, Virgie Mae, because she wanted to learn how to read better.^[7]The church held these classes at Denver Elementary (now San Marcos Elementary) and then Chandler Jr. High School, until funding dried up.

The City ran arts and crafts programs at Winn School during summers, so children could socialize with one another and have somewhere to go while their parents worked. Classes were held to educate residents about alcoholism, domestic violence, and drugs. In 2005, City Council approved the use of $235,000 to assist Habitat for Humanity “to acquire property with a goal of constructing five single family homes…that will be affordable for low-income families.”^[8]Between 2006 and 2008, Habitat for Humanity built these homes on Delaware Street, Fairview Street, and Kesler Lane. The Salvation Army moved into the old Winn School building in the 1980s, providing social, spiritual and recreation services for the community and the local homeless population.

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In the past ten years, the City’s economic development long-range plans have included potential changes along south Arizona Avenue which impact the neighborhood. Proposed plans have included a southward extension of Washington Street to Pecos Street, mixed use construction along Arizona Avenue, and a new park between Morelos and Saragosa Streets.  How such plans will affect the development of this historic neighborhood is unknown, but advocates for the community, such as Charles Payne, are hopeful that redevelopment will bring some of the original families back to the community. He says today, the children still have deep roots in Southside.^[9]Although the neighborhood will continue to change, the stories highlight in this book reveal the deep roots still connected to Southside. Today’s generation of children will have more stories to share in the future, and it is our hope that this book will promote a sense of pride in the neighborhood’s heritage that all residents can share.

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• Map: City-Boundary-2012.pdf

[1]Payne, Coy. Oral History with Jean Reynolds. 7 December 2005.

[2]Payne, Coy. Conversation with Melanie Hartmann. 16 February 2012.

[3]Payne, Charles. Conversation with Melanie Hartmann. 27 February 2012.

[4]Payne, Coy. Conversation with Melanie Hartmann. 16 February 2012.

[5]Gonzalez, Reverend Jose. Oral History with Dr. Santos Vega. 6 March 2012.

[6]Ibid.

[7]Payne, Coy. Conversation with Melanie Hartmann. 16 February 2012.

[8]Chandler City Council Memo No. 06-10. 24 July 2006.

[9]Payne, Charles. Conversation with Melanie Hartmann. 27 February 2012.