By J.J. Lamb
Ads and articles in newspapers from 1963 and ‘64 touted life in “New Tucson” as having all of the perfect ingredients to make your ‘suburban living’ dream come true. “Ingredients” included a 9-hole golf course, five-years of free country club membership and use of an Olympic size pool, a restaurant, commercial area (all at Corona), horse property (Andrada Ranch Estates), post office in Vail, two places of worship – the then new Baptist Church and 1935 Shrine of Santa Rita in the Desert, and even free furniture. The icing on the cake was a mile-long lake for fishing and boating at Rancho del Lago, all in “New Tucson”. Horizon Corporation’s informative ads and brochures reminded prospective buyers that “New Tucson” was not just a great place to live, but also an “Opportunity In the Path of Tucson Growth”. Purchasing a home or lot was a great investment.
Development plans for the area east of Tucson in the Vail School District took a leap forward when Joseph Timon’s Horizon Corporation acquired a controlling interest in land around Corona in 1963. They already had projects taking shape at Rancho del Lago and were launching Andrada Ranch Estates in the New Tucson addition along Wentworth Road. Linking the three areas into one that he called “New Tucson” was a stretch. There weren’t that many residents yet, no incorporated areas, and “New Tucson” could provide a comprehensive marketing identity for the areas Timon was developing. His Horizon Corporation now had complete control over 16,000 acres of deeded land and 23,210 acres of state and federal leased land. The holdings included the Day Ranch – La Posta Quemada – headquartered just a mile south of Colossal Cave, Rancho del Lago, Andrada Ranch Estates three miles south of I10, and lands along Houghton Road from I10 south to Corona.
The new Corona addition included the fledgling dream of the Baptist General Convention of Arizona. The Baptist Golden Years Community was going to be “where God’s people can live in God’s country” in their retirement. When plans didn’t come to pass, and things went south, Joseph Timon and partners seized the opportunity to add Corona to their in-progress area development plans.
Marketing events were a constant for New Tucson. Barbeques, free golf, music, raffles for toasters and more, and even Tucson’s channel 9 Marshall KGUN for the kids! Land was donated to help bring the Pima County Fairgrounds to the area. In 1965 Horizon Corporation advertised that they had the “Best Golf Course” with the added benefit that taxes were 60% lower outside of School District #1. But, despite their marketing efforts to unify the development areas, the name “New Tucson” was abandoned. An October 22nd article in the Arizona Daily Star announced that the “New Tucson Golf Course is no more. From now on, the nine-hole golf course will be known as Corona Golf and Country Club.”
In 2020 developers still market the mountain views, star-studded night sky, and desert landscape. New residents continue to move to the Vail and Corona area, once dubbed “New Tucson”. Even as many of the wide-open spaces that we love disappear we welcome our new neighbors – after all, we all love the same things about this place. None of the areas that Joseph Timon tried to rename “New Tucson” have incorporated, but Corona and Vail continue to have a strong sense of identity. Andrada Ranch Estates – the New Tucson addition – is in between them both. It is where I live. When asked, I don’t hesitate to say I live in Vail. If you live in ‘New Tucson’ along Wentworth Road, how do you answer that question? Post your answer and what you love about where you live, and when you moved there, on Vail Preservation Society’s Facebook page.
Your Vail Preservation is the proud recipient of: 2019 Museum Association of Arizona Institutional
Award of Excellence, 2019 GVACC Highflyer Non-profit of the Year, 2019 Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission Historic Preservation award for Voices of Vail film, 2019 Governor’s Heritage Preservation Award for Voices of Vail film, 2019 Governor’s Heritage Award 1915 Section Forman House Rehabilitation, 2019 Jim Garrison Heritage Award for 1915 Section Foreman House Rehabilitation, and 2020 Arizona Friend of the Humanities to VPS President, J.J. Lamb
J.J. Lamb is President & CEO of Vail Preservation Society. A U of A graduate, her family has lived in Vail since 1971. She was named an Arizona Culturekeeper in 2011 and an Arizona Friend of the Humanities in 2020.
