Del Webb was determined to open a post office as an added amenity before the first residents moved in and began to enjoy the Oakmont Recreation Center, North Golf Course, the Hiway House Motel and Coffee Shop, vacation apartments and a fully leased shopping center that included a Safeway store.

All the pre-built amenities fulfilled Webb’s plan of amenities before residents. But, why a post office so soon?

There was a simple answer. Mr. Webb’s advertising department was about to embark on a national mailing campaign and thought it advantageous to have letters cancelled with the post mark of Sun City, Arizona. The postmaster from Phoenix agreed to the plan when Mr. Webb offered space to lease at $1 per year and offered Webb executive Tom Austin to serve as local postmaster at a salary of $1 per year to further cut costs. Additionally, Mr. Webb sent an office employee, Mary Garettson, to the Phoenix Main Post Office to train as aa postal clerk.

Inauguration day for the historic opening took place April 4, 1960 with the Phoenix Postmaster presiding and ceremoniously handing over the keys to Mr. Austin and Ms. Garretson. The first letter cancelled went to the Arizona governor. Among other recipients of first day mail from Mr. Webb was President Dwight Eisenhower.

After the initial opening ceremony, the assembled group reconvened at the Oakmont auditorium for refreshments — and a program. The Phoenix postmaster explained that the Sun City Post Office was designated as a “rural contract station of the Phoenix Post Office’ and would operate as a general delivery station with no mail delivered to homes or businesses.  Thus, Ms. Garretson interacted regularly with all residents as individual postal boxes in the office did not appear for several months and then not nearly enough to satisfy demand.

During the first two Christmas seasons, boxes were placed around the post office marked with a letter of the alphabet on the outside. Residents with names starting with “T” or “S” might have to sort through several boxes of letters/cards to find their own.

The original post office served in a socializing role. Residents arranged to meet their friends at the post office at an appointed time to chat or for other planned activities. The population quickly outgrew that function and home delivery of mail was demanded. Arizona was part of the Denver Postal District, and officials there decided mail would only be delivered to boxes at the curb. Then the officials got hundreds of letters from Sun City and changed their decision. They changed it again when Sun City expanded north of Grand Avenue and again when it moved north of Bell Road, and finally when the new homes were built just west of the cemetery.

The first actual post office building was constructed and opened in 1962. That building now houses Menke’s Funeral Service. The intersection out front became terribly dangerous before a solution was found. A postal committee interviewed candidates for the Sun City postmaster at the new building, but their selection was never appointed by President Lyndon Johnson.

There are reasons for all the above, but those are but a few of the great stories in Sun City’s postal history. The Del Webb Sun Cities Museum, 10801 W. Oakmont Drive, has the answers and the stories. Classes and discussions are being offered regularly for museum members beginning in November, and the museum itself is open for visiting 1-4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday with no admission charge. Plan a visit. Better yet, become a member and get “The Rest of the Story.”