About Us – Our History

Chandler Newspaper Article about Chandler Chamber of Commerce

September 13, 1956

The Tuesday noon meeting of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce is a natural occurrence on the weekly agenda of most local civic-minded citizens, but the meeting which was truly of special note was that of Wednesday, August 18, 1899. A crowd met that evening at the court house to arrange for the organization of a commercial club. The meeting was called to order and J.B.A. Robertson (soon to be a state governor) was elected temporary chairman. H.B. Gilstrap was elected secretary.

Remarks were made upon the question of organization by Messar, Jenness, Harriman, Gilstrap, Hardcastle, Olds, Chandler, Kalkloach.

On motion the chair appointed a committee of three to solicit persons to become members of the commercial club. Those three were R.E. Jenness, Walter Olds, and B.P. Hardcastle.

This was a most important move for all those Chandler citizens. They believed that the prosperity of their town depended upon their success in organizing a commercial club. They wanted to make theirs the best town in Oklahoma, and wished to see Chandler “make the progress which by right of natural and acquired advantages as she is entitled to.”

The constitution and by-laws were adopted at the very next meeting, and thus it is the Chandler Chamber of Commerce on August 18, 1956, attained its 57th year of being.