Del Webb legacy lives on

New middle school namesake is known as a developer, but also owned the New York Yankees 60 years ago

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Most people in Southern Nevada know Del E. Webb was a developer. But few know that he was the owner of the one of the most renowned teams in the history of professional sports.

Webb's name has again surfaced in Las Vegas, but this time it's not for a master-planned community or for home building. His name is being used for the new Webb Middle School that opened its doors to students for the first time on Aug. 29 in the Anthem area at 2200 Reunion Drive in Henderson.

"We are extremely proud to have a Clark County middle school named after company founder, Delbert Webb," said Alison Copening, director of public affairs for Pulte Homes/Del Webb Nevada. "The school's location within one of our communities, Anthem by Del Webb, makes the honor even more significant as our residents and employees have yet another reminder of Webb's greater impact in Southern Nevada."

The Clark County School District School Name Committee recommended Webb's name as a school namesake on Oct. 12, 2000.

Webb, who was born to a wealthy Fresno, Calif., family in 1899, saw his father go broke in 1914 in the construction business. And although he learned carpentry and made a living in the profession, the young Webb also played baseball for minor league teams in the Golden State including Oakland, Alameda and Modesto, sometimes using an alias.

A strong pitcher, Webb may have been on the fast track to make it to the big leagues. But during an exhibition game in 1927 at San Quentin Prison he caught typhoid fever from an inmate. Webb, who weighed 200 pounds before the illness, saw half of his body weight disappear as he fell to 99 pounds and nearly died.

Hoping to recover, Webb and his young wife, Hazel, picked up and moved to Phoenix. Although Webb recovered, he never played baseball again.

Webb began his career in the construction business a year later in 1928. In just five years, and at the height of the Depression, he had built a operation worth around $3 million.

By the late 1930s, Webb's contracting business was one of the largest in Arizona and it was awarded numerous defense contracts to help the country prepare for World War II. Several of the jobs called for building entire cities.

Webb's first foray in Las Vegas was the 1934 construction of a Union Oil station near downtown in 1934. In 1946, he was the general contractor for the Flamingo Las Vegas construction project.

Trying to diversify his holdings and not go broke in the construction business like his father had, Webb, with partner Al Topping, acquired the New York Yankees in January of 1945. The two paid $2.8 million for the team, its farm teams and stadiums in Newark, N.J, New York City and Kansas City.

The two owned the team until 1964, when they sold it for $14 million. In the intervening years, the Yankees, with players like Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra, won 15 American League pennants and 10 World Series titles.

Webb, who was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1962, was also the contractor for both Clark and Valley high schools, Las Vegas City Hall and a charter complex at McCarran International Airport.

"Del Webb believed in following your dreams and achieving them in the most honest and ethical way possible," Copening said. "In doing so, he achieved great things and we hope that the new students at Del Webb Middle School are inspired by his example."

The 148,374-square-foot school, which chose the Wranglers as its nickname, cost $30,640,000 to build and William Skorkowsky was named its principal. The school dedication is set for 6 p.m. on May 10.