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DHistory
History · Goodyear

Goodyear dates to 1917

More historic than 7% of U.S. towns · #103 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it

Most of Goodyear was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Below: maps from 1946 on and the census since 1930.

1917founded
0on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: RandomMainstream · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Goodyear began

When was Goodyear founded?

1917

Goodyear dates its founding to 1917 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 1,135 in 19302020 census: 95,294109 years

How historic is Goodyear?

D

More historic than 7% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1919.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Goodyear’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Goodyear is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #103 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Goodyear’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.2% of homes (±0.2) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical AZ town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 7%
NewerOlder
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 27%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Goodyear ranks #379 on History.

Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Goodyear’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (29% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Goodyear’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1917.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Goodyear’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Goodyear are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Goodyear, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Goodyear’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Goodyear’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Goodyear had its own post office from 1919 to 1975. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Goodyear
1919–1975
Mobile
1925–1963
Rainbow Valley
1931–1933
Avondale-Goodyear
1975–today
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Estrella CampLitchfieldMcMickenPerryvilleRainbow Valley
Gone or out of use
Flying A Ranch AirportairportLitchfield Park Naval Air FacilitymilitaryMarsh Airstripairport
1cemetery inside Goodyear
Christ Presbyterian Columbarium

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Goodyear came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Goodyear.

Read it all →

Goodyear was established in 1917 with the purchase of 16,000 acres (65 km2) of land by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to cultivate cotton for vehicle tire cords. World War II was important to Goodyear in the 1940s as the current Phoenix Goodyear Airport was built, but after the war, the economy suffered. Goodyear became a town on November 19, 1946. At the time, it had 151 homes and 250 apartments, a grocery store, a barber shop, beauty shop and a gas station.

ChaptersWorld War IIModern history

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Goodyear, 1917 to 1993

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1917
    FoundingGoodyear is established
  3. 1919Post officeThe Goodyear post office opens
  4. 1925Post officeThe Mobile post office opens
  5. 1931Post officeThe Rainbow Valley post office opens
  6. 1933Post officeThe Rainbow Valley post office closes
  7. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1963Post officeThe Mobile post office closes
  9. 1975Post officeThe Goodyear post office closes
  10. 1993Born hereKieren Duncan is born here
By decade

Goodyear, decade by decade

Today16 recent
Lone Palo Verde tree on I-102025Lone Palo Verde tree on I-10Race and ethnicity 20202024Race and ethnicity 2020Goodyear City Hall 20232023Goodyear City Hall 2023Northeast Buckeye AZ aerial2018Northeast Buckeye AZ aerialArizona route 303 interchange with I-10 in2018Arizona route 303 interchange with I-10 inUnion Pacific eastbound2015Union Pacific eastboundStarpointe Resident's Club2014Starpointe Resident's ClubUS Navy 100324-N-2389S-034 Rear Adm. Robin Graf, deputy commander of Navy Recruiting Command, discusses Navy capabiliti…2010US Navy 100324-N-2389S-034 Rear Adm. Robin Graf, depu…Estrella Mountains2010Estrella MountainsDuckies2010DuckiesCottonField.PhoenixAZ.1403202010CottonField.PhoenixAZ.140320Sunset on hill2009Sunset on hillGoodyearAZ2008GoodyearAZTypical arizona terrain2007Typical arizona terrainSouth lake2007South lakeA - panoramio (13)2007A - panoramio (13)
On the map

Goodyear on the map, 1946 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Goodyear. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Goodyear on the 1946 USGS mapGoodyear on the 1957 USGS mapGoodyear on the 1971 USGS mapGoodyear on the 1982 USGS map1946Avondale sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Goodyear.

People over time

Goodyear, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,0001940196019802000202095,294

Grew from 1,135 people in 1930 to 95,294 in 2020, more than tenfold.

9 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Goodyear’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Avondale1 historic placeC−Litchfield ParkIts storyD−Glendale22 historic placesB−Buckeye3 historic placesC

Questions about Goodyear’s history

What year was Goodyear founded?

In 1917, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Goodyear’s post office opened in 1919, and the census of 1930 counted 1,135 people here.

How does Goodyear rank for history?

Goodyear is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #103 of 140 in Arizona. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Goodyear?

0.2% of Goodyear’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 2007.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (16), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.