American real-estate developer (1899?1974)
Del Webb
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Born
| Delbert Eugene Webb
(
1899-05-17
)
May 17, 1899
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Died
| July 4, 1974
(1974-07-04)
(aged 75)
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Occupation
| Real estate developer
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Known for
|
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Spouse(s)
| Hazel Lenora Church (1919?1952)
Toni Ince Webb (1961?1974)
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Delbert Eugene "Del" Webb
(May 17, 1899 ? July 4, 1974) was an American real-estate developer and a co-owner of the
New York Yankees
baseball club. He founded and developed the
retirement community
of
Sun City, Arizona
, which was built by his
Del E. Webb Construction Company
.
[1]
Early years
[
edit
]
Webb was born in
Fresno, California
, to Ernest G. Webb, a fruit farmer, and Henrietta S. Webb. He dropped out of high school to become a carpenter's apprentice, and in 1919, he married Hazel Lenora Church, a graduate nurse. In 1920, Webb was a
ship fitter
, and they were living with his parents and two younger brothers in
Placer County, California
. At the age of 28, he suffered
typhoid fever
, and moved to
Phoenix, Arizona
, to recover.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
In 1928, Webb began Del E. Webb Construction Company. He received many military contracts during
World War II
. In 1942, he led the construction of the
Poston War Relocation Center
in Arizona, one of ten
Japanese-American internment camps
built during
World War II
, which held over 17,000 internees.
[2]
Construction began on March 27, 1942, and was completed in three weeks. This was accomplished by a crew of 5,000 laborers working double shifts.
A former
semiprofessional
baseball player and a lifelong fan, Webb and partners
Dan Topping
and
Larry MacPhail
purchased the New York Yankees in 1945 for
$
2.8 million from the estate of Col.
Jake Ruppert, Jr.
[1]
[3]
After buying out MacPhail in October 1947, Webb and Topping remained owners of the Yankees until selling the club to
CBS
in 1964
[4]
for $11.2 million. During those 20 seasons, the Yankees were in 15
World Series
, winning 10.
[1]
In 1946 and 1947,
mob boss
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
hired Webb as the
general contractor
for the
Flamingo Hotel and Casino
in
Las Vegas
. After boasting about his claim that he had personally killed 16 men, Siegel said to Webb, "Del, don't worry, we only kill each other", after seeing the panicked look on Webb’s face.
[5]
Aside from Howard Hughes, Webb would become the largest casino owner in Nevada after his Webb Corporation acquired the Sahara Nevada Corporation and its holdings of the
Sahara
and
Mint
hotels in Las Vegas.
[6]
In 1948, Webb was contracted to build 600 houses and a shopping center called
Pueblo Gardens
in
Tucson, Arizona
.
San Manuel, Arizona
, a
mining
company town
and later a resort town, followed. Established in 1953, the town was built by Webb (along with M.O.W. Homes Inc.) for the Magma Copper Company. It required the building of streets, shopping centers, schools, a hospital, and parks.
[7]
[8]
[9]
This was a prelude to
Sun City, Arizona
, which launched on January 1, 1960, with five home models, a shopping center, a recreation center, and a golf course. The opening weekend drew 100,000 people, 10 times more than expected, and resulted in a
Time
cover story.
[10]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1919, Webb married his childhood sweetheart, Hazel Lenora Church. They divorced in 1952. In 1961, Webb married Toni Ince, then aged 41, a buyer for
Bullocks Wilshire
department store in
Los Angeles
.
[11]
Webb was elected to the
Gaming Hall of Fame
in 2000.
[12]
Death
[
edit
]
Webb died at age 75 in
Rochester, Minnesota
, on July 4, 1974, following surgery for
lung cancer
.
[1]
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Webb, 75, dies; owned Yankees"
.
Milwaukee Journal
. (Los Angeles Times). July 5, 1974. p. 15, part 2.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Arizona's Japanese-American internment camp: Thousands of U.S. Citizens were imprisoned at Poston Relocation Center"
.
- ^
Hand, Jack (January 27, 1945).
"Del Webb and Associates Buy New York Yankees"
.
Newspapers.com
. Retrieved
September 4,
2023
.
- ^
"AL approves sale of Yankees to CBS"
.
Milwaukee Sentinel
. Associated Press. August 14, 1964. p. 2, part 2.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Jennings,
We Only Kill Each Other
. (1992). p. 17
- ^
a
b
Hyman, Harold (July 5, 1974).
"Builder Del E. Webb Dies - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper"
.
lasvegassun.com
. Retrieved
January 30,
2023
.
- ^
"Del Webb Corporation History"
. Retrieved
December 28,
2017
.
- ^
"Mine Tales: San Manuel was once world's largest underground copper mine"
. April 14, 2014
. Retrieved
December 28,
2017
.
- ^
"History of the San Manuel-Kalamazoo Mine, Pinal County, Arizona"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
December 29,
2017
.
- ^
Trolander, Judith Ann (2011). "Age 55 or Better: Active Adult Communities and City Planning".
Journal of Urban History
.
37
(6): 952?974.
doi
:
10.1177/0096144211418435
.
PMID
22175080
.
S2CID
25439269
.
- ^
"Modern Living: Man on the Cover: DEL WEBB"
.
Time
. August 3, 1962.
ISSN
0040-781X
. Archived from
the original
on January 30, 2023
. Retrieved
January 30,
2023
.
- ^
"The Gaming Hall of Fame"
. University of Nevada Las Vegas. Archived from
the original
on March 18, 2012
. Retrieved
August 30,
2009
.
External links
[
edit
]