Corbell Park
Lakeshore Dr. & Chilton Dr.
11 acres
Corbell Park is located in south central Tempe at
Lakeshore and Chilton drives. This 11 acre park is one
of Tempe’s larger neighborhood parks and was dedicated
in honor and memory of Victor Corbell, an Arizona
pioneer and prominent Tempe business leader on April 7,
1984.
Victor Corbell was born into an original Arizona
pioneer family on January 31, 1894. His father, Charles
Asher Corbell, homesteaded in the area near Baseline and
McClintock and Victor later owned his own ranch, a
320-acre site near what is now McClintock and Guadalupe
roads.
After graduation from Tempe High School and Tempe
Normal School, Victor served in the Army Signal Corps
during WWI. In 1921, he married Anna Miller whose
family lived in the area across the road from what is
now the Lakes Community. Corbell served as president of
the Salt River Project for 16 years and was a member of
the SRP Board for nearly 35.
Victor was also active in many community and civic
affairs. He served as director of the Arizona
Reclamation Association and was a member of the Colorado
Water Resources Committee and Central Arizona Project.
When he was first elected to the SRP Board, the utility
had 4,350 customers. At his retirement, SPR had grown
to serving more than 157,000 customers.
He
also served as president of the First National Bank of
Arizona, was president of the Tempe Rotary Club and
served on the Tempe Union High School District Board for
20 years. He died in February 1980, but his
contributions to the community will continued to be
recognized through the designation of one of Tempe's 49
parks named in is honor and located close to his family
home.
