02. Laying Out the Town

With the successful completion of Roosevelt Dam, Dr. Chandler began to parcel out his property.  Buyers could purchase ten to forty acre farms or smaller residential and commercial lots in town.  The photo at the right shows Dr. Chandler welcoming buyers to the Townsite Office at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and San Marcos Place.

Even before land sales day on May 16, 1912, the Mesa Improvement Company (later known as the Chandler Improvement Company) outlined the new community’s streets by installing concrete curbs.  Paving would come later.  The photographs below depict the Improvement Company’s commitment to having a beautiful city with curved streets surrounding “The Beauty Spot,” a lushly landscaped island in the middle of the Commonwealth Canal.  Some of Chandler’s earliest buildings appear in the background along the cottonwood tree lined Commonwealth Canal. The water tower at right bears the Chandler Improvement Company name.