M. Penn Phillips

M. Penn Phillips (1887 Parsons, Kansas - 1979 Sierra Madre, California) was an American entrepreneur and real estate developer who founded the M. Penn Phillips Company which, as a subsidiary of Holly Development Corporation, operated in the Western states from the 1920s through the 1970s. He was responsible for the development of several communities, including Hesperia and Salton City in California and Christmas Valley in Oregon.

In 1923 he opened the new subdivision of Clear Lake Highlands near Clear Lake, California which, in 1980, became part of newly incorporated Clearlake.

In 1955, he was president of Hesperia Land Development and Hesperia Sales Corporation, while conceiving the U-Finish Home, mass-produced housing units which were completely finished on the outside leaving the buyer to complete the interior.

In 1956, he was an alternate delegate from California to the Republican National Convention.

Finally, Salton City, a community on the west shore of the Salton Sea was mapped out by the M. Penn Phillips Company in 1958.