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Windsor Square: An Historic Narrative Part 2 While articles and large ads appeared weekly in both The Arizona Republican and The Phoenix Evening Gazette and the developers gave glowing progress reports, subtle signs of problems began to surface. Sales manager Ardo Peterson was replaced by S. E. Taylor, who announced a series of drawings to attract visitors and buyers, despite reporting sales of five or six lots a week. In July, Owens-Dinmore announced the closure of its downtown office and the discontinuance of its brokerage business during the summer so that the "officials ... could devote all of their time to Windsor Square." The July 20 Phoenix Evening Gazette showed photographs of the first five houses being built, at what are now 234, 314, and 350 East Pasadena; 693 East Colter; and 520 East Orange. It also announced property which had been purchased by Louis Page of Page's Ginger Ale, one of the "foremost business men of Phoenix." A home at 248 East Orange, originally announced to be built for I. D. Owens, was later featured as a model home in October, with many advertisements in The Gazette and The Republican. In November it was offered for sale. In August, The Phoenix Evening Gazette reported the completion of "one of the state's finest boulevard systems" with the use of "Penetration Macadam" to pave the streets of Windsor Square. Photos accompanied a detailed description of the process. In November, the purchase of 350 East Pasadena by cowboy artist Jack Van Ryder was announced. He and his wife were reported to be the first residents of Windsor Square. Another model in the subdivision (314 East Pasadena) opened in December 1929, and the advertisement for it was the last to appear for Windsor Square for almost a decade. A small story in the Sunday Arizona Republican on March 10, 1930 announced that an auction sale of lots had begun the previous Friday. Prices on lots varied from $3,100 for large lots on Central to $500 for small lots facing 7th Street. Seven years later, a small classified ad announced that at last some of the lots in Windsor Square had been released by the court and were for sale for $300 - $750. Apparently, Owens and Dinmore had suffered financial setbacks, along with the rest of the country, as the 1920s came to a close. A brief story a year and a half later verified that eight years of litigation had come to an end, and Mrs. Margaret Barringer held clear title to 181 undeveloped lots. The Jan. 29,1939 Republican reported that development of the tract would resume and that 12 "pretentious" homes had been built there prior to the depression. |