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A famous craftsman left mark on Gulfport

Years after leaving Sears and before the Depression forced him to return, Alvah Roebuck built nearly 20 homes in Gulfport.

By SCOTT TAYLOR HARTZELL
Published December 1, 2004

GULFPORT - Sears' recent merger with Kmart is a national story, but some of the company's history was once quite local.

In 1925, Alvah Curtis Roebuck of the Sears and Roebuck partnership came here to build homes that featured fireplaces and soft water as selling points.

"They're built so that we don't have to make any apologies for them," Roebuck said.

Of himself, he said, "If there is anything within my story which will offer encouragement to young people ... then it will be good to have it told."

As a boy, Roebuck mastered watch repair. He became a retail giant when that skill united him with Richard W. Sears. After establishing a successful typewriter concern and a film projection company, Roebuck moved here to create a subdivision and journey into politics.

Today Roebuck's former retail company embarks on a new journey after an $11-billion merger with Kmart. To borrow a Roebuck expression from 1925, "A chance came, though, and I think it must have been through providence."

On Jan. 9, 1864, Roebuck was born in Lafayette, Ind. His father died when Roebuck was 13, leaving him with family responsibility and a broken silver watch. Roebuck repaired the timepiece and began fixing his classmates' watches for 25 cents each.

"A.C. Roebuck, Repair of Watches, Clocks and Jewelry," read his first business card.

After a move to Hammond, Ind., where he earned $3.50 a week at age 23, Roebuck answered a Chicago Daily News ad in 1887 for a Sears watchmaker. He brought with him a sample of his work.

"I don't know anything about watchmaking," Sears said. "I presume this is good; otherwise you wouldn't have submitted it to me. You may have the position."

On Sept. 16, 1893, Sears, Roebuck and Co. was established.

After leaving Sears in the 1890s, Roebuck designed a two-shift typewriter and established the Woodstock Typewriter Co. He returned to Sears and remained until 1914, when Sears died. By 1925, Roebuck had amassed wealth designing and selling film projectors to nearly half the nation's theaters.

"He passed up several opportunities to make enormous fortunes," the New York Times wrote about Roebuck.

In January 1925, Roebuck arrived here and bought a subdivision between 52nd and 53rd streets and 29th and 31st avenues. After renaming the area Roebuck Park, he rebuilt the subdivision "lot by lot," the Tourist News wrote in Roebuck's first interview about his career.

After studying Florida homes, Roebuck selected state-of-the-art designs for his stucco structures. Ventilation was emphasized. Fireplaces, garages, laundry rooms, barrel tile roofs and "electric plants" for soft water attracted buyers. Trees and shrubbery landscaped each lot.

"A new standard of home construction is being established," raved the Evening Independent. "The businessman is literally painting masterpieces. In the homes being built by Mr. Roebuck, nothing of the "mail order house' creeps in."

According to writings by Gulfport historian Claudette Dean, however, Roebuck also built a few Sears "catalog houses" here.

Roebuck ran for Town Council in 1927 and received the most votes (108), Gulfport historian Lynn Brown said. He served as council president from 1927 to 1928. In 1929, Roebuck lost a mayoral election to Sam Webb, 145-73.

Roebuck was "one of the leading boosters of the municipality," the Independent said of Roebuck.

Longtime Gulfport resident Nathan White disagreed: "I don't think he made an impact on the community," he said of Roebuck, who resided at 5233 Delett Ave. with his wife, Blanche, and two children. "He made an impact on his wallet."

By 1930, the Depression had left Roebuck reeling. He completed nearly 20 homes in Roebuck Park and then returned to Sears. "He must have sunk his last penny into those lots," Brown said.

When people would compare his poverty to Sears' riches, Roebuck would say: "(Sears) is dead. Me, I've never felt better."

Roebuck spent his later years in Tujunga, Calif., tinkering with gadgets. He died in Chicago in 1948 while visiting his daughter. He was 84.

Last month, a struggling Sears announced the takeover by Kmart. The new company, Sears Holdings, will unite Kmart's Martha Stewart and Jaclyn Smith labels with Sears' Craftsmen and Kenmore lines. It will be the nation's third-largest retailer.

You can reach Scott Taylor Hartzell at hartzel@msn.com

[Last modified December 1, 2004, 00:33:20]