2009 Sep 09
For Immediate Release
CGCC Hosts Hispanic Heritage Exhibit
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Chandler-Gilbert Community College Library is now hosting the Hightown/Pueblo Alto history exhibit, which features the history of a west Chandler Hispanic neighborhood. This exhibit is on loan from the City of Chandler's Museum Division and will be displayed through October 1.
The exhibit tells the story of a unique Mexican-American and Yaqui Indian neighborhood in which several generations of the original families still live. The Pueblo Alto area, or Hightown as it was known in English, was started in the early 1920s by farm workers who settled in the area, built homes, and raised families. The neighborhood is primarily in the area southeast of the intersection of McClintock Road and Chandler Blvd. in west Chandler. The popular restaurant, Espo's, is part of this neighborhood.
When the exhibit was on display at Chandler's McCullough-Price House in 2008 many of the long-time residents of Hightown visited the exhibit and contributed to a community scrapbook filled with their memories of life in the barrio. This scrapbook is now part of the the Hightown/Pueblo Alto history exhibit.
"The foundation for the thriving Chandler of today was built decades ago, and many of these pioneering Hispanic families helped create that legacy," said Jean Reynolds, City of Chandler public history coordinator. "While many of the earliest Hispanics arrived in Chandler as laborers and farm workers, their children, and their children's' children succeeded in moving up the socio-economic scale. This is true for Hightown. This exhibit tells the story of one of Chandler's oldest neighborhoods that has remained intact, with many descendants of the original settlers still living there."
This event is free and open to the public. CGCC Library hours are Monday - Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.