Neighboring Cities: Ruskin | Apollo Beach | Summerfield | Balm/Wimauma
Our story begins with one of the largest traffic jams that had ever been witnessed in Hillsborough County! The grand opening of Del Webb's Sun City had been advertised for weeks in the press, on radio and tv all over the country, particularly in the eastern states. And when that grand opening first week of business arrived, 41,000 people came to see. The purchase of the property by Del Webb came in early 1961. As we now know, his proven path to success called for houses designed for retirement living at an affordable price, a place for potential residents to shop, a place for their recreation, a post office and a hotel with a restaurant. He also wanted to get this place going fast and set the nearly impossible target date of January 1, 1962, for the opening. That gave him less than a year to convert a cow pasture into a bustling and attractive community for retirees from up north. Groundbreaking occurred on May 10, 1961. When Del Webb first visited this property, he had in mind a development of 5,000 retirees conveniently surrounding their own all-purpose recreation - shopping - service center, and bordered by a much larger development of homes, schools and industrial sites. His early vision has long since blurred, but first-time visitors continue to get the immediate impression of this community's neat layout and attractive amenities. |