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Chandler, Arizona Balloon Rides

If you are staying in Chandler, Arizona when arranging for your Arizona Balloon ride, we have included some interesting background about the town below. When arranging your FChandler Balloon Ride, be sure to check our directions page to see how convenient we are to the entire valley.

About Chandler

Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, and is a prominent suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the south by the Gila River Indian Reservation, and to the east by Gilbert. The population was 240,595 according to the Census Bureau's2006 estimate. The city contains a large number of modest tract homes. It also has satellite locations for the technology companies Intel and Orbital Sciences

History

In 1891, Dr. Alexander John Chandler, the first veterinary surgeon in Arizona Territory, settled on a ranch south of Arizona Territory, studying Irrigation engineering. By 1900, he had acquired 18,000 acres (73 km²) of land, and began drawing up plans for a townsite on what was then known as the Chandler Ranch. The townsite office opened on May 17th 1912, the same year that Chandler High School was established. By 1913, a town center had become established, featuring the luxurious Hotel San Marcos, the first golf resort in the state.

Most of Chandler's economy was successfully sustained during the Great Depression (a second San Marcos hotel was canceled due to the Depression however), but the cotton crash a few years later had a much deeper impact on the city's residents. Later, the founding of Williams Air Force Base in 1941 led to a small surge in population, but Chandler still only held 3,800 people by 1950. By 1980, it had grown to 30,000, and it has since paced the Phoenix metropolitan area's high rate of growth, with vast suburban residential areas swallowing former agricultural plots. Some of this growth was fueled by the establishment of manufacturing plants for communications and computing firms such as Motorola and I Intel, but despite the inclusion of many large businesses, Chandler is often considered a Bedroom ecconomy for the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.

Culture

Chandler is noted for its annual Ostrich Festival. Initially, agriculture was the primary business in Chandler, based on cotton, corn, and alfalfa. During the 1910s, there were ostrich farms in the area, catering to the demand for plumes used in women's hats of the era. This demand ebbed with the increasing popularity of the automobile, but the legacy of the ostrich farms would be commemorated by the Ostrich Festival. The Chandler Center for the Arts, a 1,500-seat regional performing arts venue, is located downtown, and the Arizona Railroad museum is at Tumbleweed Park. The Tumbleweed park is our meeting location for our East Valley Flights.