It just dawned on me, Talk of Sun City (TOSC) has been around for years now. Those of us that use it as our community commons or simply visit and lurk (that's not a bad thing) tend to lose sight of the historical perspective of how and where we came from. We do have a section for new posters to introduce themselves and while I could use that, this is easily the most read section on the forum. In so many of the historical posts I write, I often acknowledge John Meeker (he was the genius behind Sun City's rebirth in 1965). So, let me shift gears and take the liberty of introducing the man, the legend behind all of the Sun Cities we are enjoying today: Meet Delbert Eugene Webb: Born 1899, died 1974. An odd way to introduce anyone, but in this case, during his lifetime he accomplished more than most. He was born in California, his father a prominent business owner. Unfortunately in 1914 dad went bankrupt and Del dropped out of high school and struck out on his own. He was by then an accomplished carpenter and worked up and down the coast of California. His only prerequisite was the town he worked in have a semi-pro baseball team. Del's dream was to become a professional ball player. At 6 foot 4 and 200 plus pounds and lots of potential, it certainly was not unreasonable. Fortunately for all of us, that dream never came to fruition. There's far more to that story, but we'll come to that in the 40's. In 1926 Del came down with typhoid fever and his weight dropped to under 100 pounds. The next year, along with his first wife Hazel, he moved to Arizona where the climate was more conducive to his recovery. He started modestly working for others but caught a break when a contractor bailed on a job he was working on and the owner of the Bayless Markets asked him to finish the job. Hence the Del E Webb Construction Company was born. All during the 30's he got contracts across the state of Arizona. His biggest jobs were for the state government where he established himself as a contractor who was fast, fair and did quality work. For anyone who has been to the Phoenix Zoo, atop a hill from where the buffalo roam, you may have noticed a pyramid. Webb built it at the request of Governor Hunt who felt it would be a great final resting place. The 40's brought on an explosion of growth as the federal government tapped into his talents as a builder. The story goes he never had to submit competitive bids, he was simply awarded contracts based on the quality of his work and the speed and fair price he delivered. Military bases were his specialty, and he also built Japanese internment camps in AZ (not one of his proudest moments in some people's opinion). Webb's love of baseball never died. In 1945 along with Larry MacPhail and Dan Topping bought the New York Yankees (2 years later they bought MacPhail out). The asking price was 2.8 million dollars and included the Yankee's team and stadiums in New York, Newark, Kansas City and the farm teams. Shortly after they sold the land under Yankee stadium to the Knights of Columbus for 2 million dollars and with a lease back agreement. Dan and Del owned the Yankee's for 20 years selling them to CBS in 1964 for 14 million dollars. During that 20 year run, they had won 10 World Series and 15 division titles. Some of the photo's on display at the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum from those years are priceless. Better yet, Del was not only a student of the game, but as an accomplished businessman; he transformed baseball by incorporating accounting procedures into merchandise, food and beer sales that other owners had all but ignored. In 1946, Del got a phone call from Benjamin Siegel, better known as Bugsy. Seems his contractor had bailed on him while building the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Del agreed to finish the job and said of Bugsy; "he paid in cash and he paid on time." Webb was concerned about working for mobsters and told Bugsy so, who candidly replied, "don't worry, we only kill each other." It was just a short time after that Mr. Siegel was shot through the eye while at his girlfriends house. Del left Vegas, but it most assuredly wasn't to be the end of his sojourn there. In the 50's, Del consulted with G. Edgar Hoover who encouraged him to return to Las Vegas as they wanted someone reputable to help build the city. Webb became part owner of the Sahara Hotel, just the first of many casino's in the Webb Corporation's portfolio. Along with owning a number of them they also built the Rivera, the MGM and several others. Our story takes on a more local significance when in the mid 50's, some of Webb's employees started paying attention to a small community in Arizona called Youngtown. It was a senior's only setting, but with no amenities. They began soliciting opinions of experts who told them seniors would never uproot and leave their families. Three men within the corporation held firm to the idea the experts were wrong. L C Jacobson, Tom Breen and J R Aston worked tirelessly to convince Webb to take a chance. They had done their own informal research and found the communities that were for seniors only were discontented by the fact the developers promised amenities but never delivered. Their conclusion was, build the amenities first and the homes would sell. Webb formed a partnership with Jim Boswell (called DEVCO) who owned two 10,000 acres of cotton farming land in the west valley; Del owned 51% and Boswell 49%. The total initial investment was around 2 million dollars. They began construction on the first 9 holes of the golf course in July of 1959 and in September through the end of the year constructed the Community Center (now Oakmont), the shopping center, 5 model homes (the first of which is now the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum), a gas station, the pro shop and the motor inn and restaurant called the Hiway House (3 years later it became the Kings Inn). Sun City got it's name via a contest conducted nation wide. The story goes the contest was being run by the Donelly Company out of Chicago. Del walked into the room and standing over the table of potential names, Webb spotted Sun City and said, "that's the winner." Company officials were flummoxed, but several of Webb's people said emphatically, "that's Mr. Webb and that's going to be the name." Hence, Sun City was born. Del didn't come to Sun City until 1961. He was a workaholic and had any number of other things going on in his life. He loved golf and often conducted business on the golf courses He belonged to 17 country clubs and owned an alleged 52 pair of golf shoes. He was always a little skeptical of Sun City and its potential for success. It wasn't until John Meeker took over the reigns in 1965 when the concept really exploded. Del's popularity in the community was almost legendary as people who lived here often gushed over what he had built them. In an appearance on the Merv Griffin Show, Del told him Sun City was his "greatest accomplishment." The funny thing is, Sun City was built as Del turned 60 years old and the joke amongst company employees was, Del would have been the last person to move into a "retirement community." Del lived to work. In 1974, Del went to Rochester Mayo hospital in Minnesota. It was July 4 and following some expletory surgery died from complications. Robert Johnson took over for him as president of the corporation and along with John Meeker helped finish the role in the original Sun City story (as a footnote, both Meeker and Johnson left the corporation in 1981). To this day, the Del E.Webb Foundation carries on with Del's legacy. The Webb Corporation built countless numbers of hospitals and the Foundation still helps fund them along with medical research. One day while giving a tour at the museum a visitor said to me as we finished in the Webb room: "wow, he was just like a modern day Donald Trump." I laughed and said: "he might have been the furthest thing from the Donald on the face of this earth." There's not enough accolades to give out when it comes to Del Webb and his accomplishments. Rather than spew on, let me conclude with this caption hanging under his picture in the Del E. Webb Corporation that says it all: Mr. Webb was a legend in his own time. A quietly colorful man, warmly human, inherently honest, and with a creative business imagination. His friends came from all walks and stations in life-From U.S. Presidents to common labors.. Sources for this are from the books: Del Webb A Man A Company and Jubilee The 25th Anniversary of Sun City Arizona. For more information check out the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum website.
Thanks for the post, Bill. That was an excellent read. I can't wait to go to the museum. :encouragement:
Yeah, looks like we will be in SC on the weekend when the museum opens up for the season. It will be a short trip with lots to do, but cruising through the museum will be a nice break.
Directly across from the Oakmont Rec Center is now a shopping center where the Fry's store is. It's called the King's Inn Center. I think it came down in the late 90's. Too bad because there are lots of great stories about the Kings Inn, especially from the days when there was a spring training field here in Sun City. The old Hiway House was a chain of motor hotels that Webb owned around the country.
I love museums - of any kind - I'll be one of those geeks who will want to know everything about the floor plan that we buy and will beg to get a copy, and then I will probably do something weird like display it in our house. Reminds me of when I found out the house I was growing up in was a Sears house - I had to know everything about how Sears sold houses and stuff. Good times.
Just some food for thought here: Anyone looking for the "perfect" volunteer job in Sun City should strongly consider the Museum. Seriously, it doesn't get much better in spite of a thousand other places to volunteer. We can teach you the basics in a couple of hours (every display is captioned) and the level of being involved is as little as 6 hours per month (2-3 hour shifts). Perhaps best of all is the access to the tons of information buried in cabinets, closets and cupboards. As we get more near to opening, i'll post information regarding how and when.
Thanks. I wondered why I read King's Inn Center on the map but couldn't see a hotel. At least they kept the historical name.
As long as we are talking about it, here's a couple of photo's. The first is when it was called the King's Inn. It changed names in 1963 when it became the King's Inn. It was to become the hub of Sun City's activities in those early years as John Meeker used it as the Play and Stay unit.
The old stadium was on the corner of 111th Ave and Grand. It's now a massive apartment complex. As you know, Spring training was for 1 month a year. Fortunately they had the Sun City Saints (women's fast pitch softball team) using it other months of the year. The land became more valuable than the baseball/softball revenues and like all things, the monetary value to use in development overcame the practical aspects of traing to keep it as a stadium. Here's 3 shots from those early years: One of my fav's from the museum: The field in all it's glory: All photo's courtesy of the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum (a very special place).
I find it both funny and appropriate that they accommodated golf car parking as a view level at the stadium. Good thinking.
Milwaukee Brewers? Booooooo Just kidding, if the stadium was still there I would go to the games even if it St. Louis playing. Thanks for the pics
