Planes, Trains, Automobiles, & Blimps!

Goodyear was founded in 1942 as a small rural community to support the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation and the Litchfield Naval Air Facility. It was located within the cotton fields previously developed in 1917 by Paul W. Litchfield of Akron, Ohio. It was part of Goodyear Farms and the Southwest Cotton Company.

Goodyear was forced to explore other land options for growing cotton due to short supply from foreign sources.  Paul Litchfield was sent to purchase land in Arizona after it was discoverd that the area possesed similar climate and soil as foreign suppliers.  The small community that resulted from the Goodyear Farms cotton industry was first called "Egypt", for the Egyptian cotton that was grown there, and eventually became "Goodyear".

The Town of Goodyear was incorporated on November 19, 1946. The town consisted of 151 homes and 250 apartments. These residences were supported by a grocery store, drug store, barber shop, beauty shop and a service station. In addition, there were 25 Wingfoot Homes and the Goodyear Farm Trailer Court located on Litchfield Road south of Yuma Road (now Western Avenue).

During the early 1940’s, the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation employed over 7,500 people at any one time. The employees manufactured and assembled parts for Consoladated and Lockheed Aircraft Corporations. The corporation also modified the configuration of the U.S. Navy PB 4YI and 4Y2 Bomber.

The plant was closed at the end of WWII (in 1946). The result was an exodus of 90% of the Goodyear residents who originally transferred from Akron to Arizona. Goodyear became a ghost town.

In 1943, the Naval Air Facility was built to provide a West Coast Navy training facility. After WWII it served as a storage base for thousands of WWII aircraft that were moth balled and salvaged.

The Goodyear Aircraft Corporation facility was declared surplus and sold in 1949 to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The purchase price was $475,000. The facility was renamed the Goodyear Aerospace Corporation. Thus began a long history of defense and space program contributions. The town’s growth has been closely tied with the fortunes of the Aerospace and Naval Air facility. In 1968 the Navy sold the aircraft field and related facilities to the City of Phoenix.

In the 1980’s, SunCor purchased 10,000 acres of the original Goodyear Farms land and have developed it into the Palm Valley Master Planned Community. Goodyear became a city in 1985.