SUN CITY FOUNDER
∗ Born May 17, 1899 in Fresno, California; dropped out of high school to become a carpenter’s apprentice
∗ Moved to Phoenix at age 28 to recover from typhoid fever
∗ Founded the Del E Webb Construction Company in 1928; first major contract was building AJ Bayless grocery stores
∗ Secured many large government projects during the Depression and World War II, making his company one of the largest contractors in the country; built U.S. military bases including Luke Air Force Base in Litchfield Park in 1941; built the Poston War Relocation Center near Parker in 1942, which housed 17,000 Japanese-American detainees during World War II
∗ Built the Flamingo Hotel in 1946, the first casino-hotel in Las Vegas; built and owned the Sahara Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in 1954 as well as the Sahara Tahoe; bought the Mint Las Vegas hotel and casino in 1961; elected posthumously in 2000 to the Gaming Hall of Fame in Las Vegas
∗ Built the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, which opened in 1953; developed the Hiway House motel chain in 1956 and the Del Webb’s Town House hotel chain; built the Mountain Shadows resort in Paradise Valley in 1959 (which was demolished in 2014)
∗ Developed and/or built many other projects in the Phoenix area, including Gov. Hunt’s pyramid tomb in Papago Park, the 1938 addition to the Arizona State Capitol, St. Joseph’s Hospital, ChrisTown Mall (now Spectrum ChrisTown), and Rosenzweig Center (now Phoenix City Square), which included Del Webb’s Towne House and the Del Webb building (now 3800 Tower)
∗ Co-owned the New York Yankees baseball team from 1945 to 1967; was a key player in ousting baseball commissioner Happy Chandler in 1950, and in pushing for an American League team in Los Angeles; brought the Yankees to Phoenix for spring training in 1951, Mickey Mantle’s rookie season; sold the team to CBS in 1964 after winning 15 American League pennants and 10 World Series
∗ Built his first non-military community in 1948 – Pueblo Gardens in Tucson, which included 600 houses and a shopping center; built San Manuel, a company town in Pinal County for Magma Copper in 1953
∗ Bought 10,000 acres on the western edge of Phoenix, where he founded and developed Sun City, the country’s first upscale retirement community, which opened in 1960, launching the Phoenix area as a mecca for “active retirement living”; built nine other similar communities throughout the country
∗ Appeared on the cover of Time magazine, August 3, 1962
∗ Built Anaheim Stadium in 1966 for the California Angels major league baseball team
∗ Died July 4, 1974, in Rochester, Minnesota, following cancer surgery; was cremated and his ashes scattered over Arizona
∗ Inspired the naming of Del Webb Middle School in Henderson, Nevada, which opened in 2005, and the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts in Wickenberg
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