Del Webb Sun Cities Museum

The Sun Belt has long been known as a desirable destination for retirees. The demand for housing and amenities for seniors there led to developer Del E. Webb purchasing the then-remote Marinette and Santa Fe ranches northwest of Phoenix in 1959. What he built was an unprecedentedly large and self-contained community in which only senior citizens could live. Opening in 1960 with a shopping center, gas station, golf course, and recreation center, Webb intended Sun City to have enough services that residents would not have to leave. Although, contrary to popular belief, Sun City was not the first planned retirement community, it was instrumental in popularizing the concept across the Sun Belt. Today, it is the second largest such settlement in the country, with almost 40,000 residents in 18,000 homes. Del Webb’s firm would build three more Sun Cities in Arizona and numerous others across the United States.

The Del Webb Sun Cities Museum is located in the first of five original model homes built for the community. Eventually sold off and expanded, it was purchased by the Sun Cities Area Historical Society in 1989. In front of the museum, you will see a couple vintage golf carts, to this day a popular mode of transportation among residents. Inside are exhibits on the history of the Arizona Sun Cities, the previous ghost town of Marinette, and Del Webb. There is also a preserved living room and characteristically pink 1960s period kitchen and bathroom.