Paul Weeks Litchfield
Litchfield Park - Maricopa County
Inducted in 2016
Litchfield's impact on the Southwest Valley and agriculture was not just significant, but profound. His visionary work in developing the cotton industry, establishing the apprentice farmers program, and founding Goodyear Farms, which later evolved into the vibrant city of Litchfield Park, is a testament to his influence. The Goodyear Tire Company, a product of his efforts, had a far-reaching impact on the Salt River Valley, shaping the region's agricultural landscape.
Paul Weeks Litchfield was born to a Boston family that traces its ancestors back to the Mayflower pilgrims. Paul was an 11th-generation descendant of George and Mary Soule, as well as Myles and Barbara Standish. His father, a well-respected photographer in Boston, instilled in Paul a love for the land and a keen eye for detail. The family lived a modest middle-class life in the city. When Paul was five, he contracted polio. He recovered with only minor after-effects.
The family saved enough money to send Paul to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He graduated in 1896 with a degree in chemical engineering. Being a dynamic young man, he began his career doing menial jobs related to rubber production. In 1900, at the age of 25, Paul went to work for Goodyear Tire and Rubber as a factory superintendent. In that role, he came to the Salt River Valley in 1916, hoping to convince area farmers and ranchers to grow long-staple cotton for the company.
Goodyear Tires, a company that would later become a household name, played a pivotal role in the cotton industry. They needed cotton to strengthen the thread of the tire they made. Initially, the cotton was woven into cloth and embedded into the rubber in liquid form, making the tire tread more puncture-proof. A few years later, the cotton was made into cotton courting with the same purpose. At the time, the two sources for long-staple cotton were in Egypt, which the events of World War I had cut off, and in the barrier islands of the United States, where crops were infested with boll weevils. This quest for a new place that grew the precious cotton led to Paul's journey to the Valley.
Because Paul had yet to convince area farmers to grow long-staple cotton for his company, he returned to Akron and convinced his superiors to buy and lease land in the valley to develop their own. He succeeded in 1917. Two ranches were begun under the auspices of the newly formed Southwest Cotton Company, a Goodyear Tires and Rubber Company subsidiary. Its headquarters were in downtown Phoenix, and one of the cotton-growing ranches was in the Chandler(Ocotillo area). It was called Goodyear Ranch. The other was located in the southwest valley, where the city of Litchfield Park is currently. It was called Litchfield Ranch. A third Ranch was established a year or two later in the present-day Youngtown/Sun City area. It was called Marinette Ranch. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company bought thousands of Acres of Virgin desert and hired men who cleared the land, added water, and grew the needed long-staple cotton. Paul convinced his first cousin, Kenneth B McMicken, to oversee this project in 1917. McMicken lived and worked on the farm until he died in 1959.
The 1920 cotton market crash, a significant event in the history of cotton production, led to a change in technology and requirements for the production of tires. This, coupled with an insolvent financial situation for Goodyear Tire and Rubber, put the company's Arizona Holdings in great peril. However, Paul loved Arizona, and he knew that Goodyear Arizona Holdings could keep a reserve of cotton and high-grade cotton seed against any national emergency that might arise, such as the one created by World War I. The focus of the Southwest Cotton Company shifted over the next 25 years as it gradually centered its activities at Litchfield Ranch. It had become an experimental farm. At that time, it was the largest operation of its kind in the country.
In 1943, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company officially changed the name of Litchfield Ranch to Goodyear Farms. In 1944, the company sold off the Goodyear and the Mariette Ranches. Through diversification in mechanization, Goodyear Farms concentrated its efforts on improving farming methods. Farmers worldwide benefited from the experiments.
Under the visionary leadership of Paul Weeks Litchfield, Goodyear Farms underwent a significant transformation. It evolved from primarily a cotton producer to a general all-around farm operation, becoming an experimental laboratory for agricultural innovation. Among the many accomplishments was the development of better soil through crop rotation. Alfalfa, a key crop, was found to be the best way to build up the organic matter needed to improve soil quality. Other crops, such as barley grain, sorghum, and winter wheat, were rotated throughout the farm, further enhancing the soil. A newer strain of Acala cotton, developed at Goodyear Farms, gave Arizona cotton a more significant trade ability, marking a significant step forward in the region's agricultural industry.
Another accomplishment was the production of improved seed quality. These seeds increased crop yield and lowered the per-acre cost required to grow the crop. Between 1921 and 1931, experiments were conducted with deciduous fruit trees, including apples, pears, and peaches, and the results were disappointing. Instead, Goodyear Farms began to grow citrus trees- grapefruit oranges, lemons, tangerines- with better outcomes.
The Farms didn't limit themselves to just crop development. They also devised a new way of feeding cattle During the period just before shipping them to Market because the cattle habitually lost weight while grazing and pastures. Goodyear Farms develop what they called green feeding. The cattle were fed fresh, chopped food in a clean trough several times daily. In addition, they were given clean, fresh water no longer drinking water from polluted irrigation ditches, which subjected the cattle to mud fever. These methods resulted in well-fed, healthier cattle arriving at the market in good conditions.
However, perhaps the most significant achievement of Paul Weeks Litchfield's career was the placement of farm machinery onto rubber tires. The Arizona desert soil, rugged, hard, and abrasive, provided the perfect testing ground. If farm machinery and rubber tires could perform in Arizona, they could be used anywhere in the world. Goodyear Farms and Litchfield Park became the center of tire testing for several years, with Goodyear sending fleets of buses, trucks, tractors, and cars out into the desert to test the durability of the tires. From 1935 to 1941, thousands of tractors were changed from steel wheels to pneumatic rubber tires, moving 14% of the tractors using rubber tires to 96% nationally. The tractors could move 25 to 50% faster using the new rubber tires. This innovation revolutionized farming, making it more accessible and efficient. Many machines designed and tested at Goodyear Farms were eventually used worldwide, marking the birth of power farming.
Another exceptional endeavor began innocently when Paul judged an FFA competition in the fall of 1936 during the Great Depression. Paul asked questions about what happened to these young boys after High School, such as whether they “were able to afford farms of their own.” He was told that all of them wanted farms of their own and independence. Only a few achieved that goal. Paul created an Apprentice Farmers Program out of this encounter. He had a great deal of acreage (2,800 acres of developed and irrigated land in the northwest corner of Goodyear Farms property) that he could spare. He also knew that many farm colorizations had been planned and organized by the US government coast to coast that had failed.
The Litchfield program offered nothing more than an opportunity. It was up to each man in the program to capitalize on the opportunity. The program was designed to train young men in sound methods of farm operations and bring them into more responsible state of farm ownership. In other words, they would eventually become small businessmen with capital autonomy and security. Goodyear Farms provided land at a fair value, training, and capital. The Apprentice Farmer program provided labor.
The first class of 11 men began in the winter of 1937, and the second class of nine in 1938. By December 1942, seven of the 20 men from those two classes had completed the training and received 15-year contracts to purchase 80 acres of the farm. There was a new class every year from 1937 through 1943, except 1939, for 55 Apprentice Farmers. In time, 22 men stayed with the program and purchased their farms.
The main road through The Apprentice Farmer Project was called Sarival Avenue. Goodyear Farms coined the word from the words Salt River Valley. The homes of the farmers were built along the road. The Apprentice Farmer program was flexible. It had to be. World War II impacted the program as many of the farmers became soldiers. In addition, the apprentices in the first group were single men. As time went on, many of the men married. Their wives brought a new dimension to the experiment with the eventual children that were born. The wives added homemaking skills to the area. They shared their knowledge, made quilts for new babies, and helped each other during emergencies. This development of a sense of community and fellowship would remain amongst this group of farmers for decades.
Under the direction of Paul's impact, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company had a profound effect on the Salt River Valley. The company brought commercial cotton growing to Arizona, revolutionary farming methods, and the development of modern farming machinery that rolled on rubber. Along with all the farming initiatives begun by the Southwest cotton company in Goodyear Farms, Paul also impacted other areas of the Southwest Valley, such as the Wigwam Resort, Goodyear Aircraft Arizona, Goodyear Aerospace, and Luke Field.
Paul certainly didn't accomplish all these things alone. He relied on the men and women who worked for him. He was a visionary who believed in his employees, admired their work, encouraged their efforts, and protected their ventures. While he traveled the world over in his capacity as president and CEO of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, checking on all the company's subsidiaries, his heart remained in Arizona. He loved the hill on which he built his winter home, Rancho La Loma. At the end of each day, as a resident, he would walk down to his Sunset Terrace and listen to the quiet day to refresh his spirit.
Paul passed away on March 18th, 1959, in Phoenix from embolism after surgery. Less than three weeks later, his cousin Kenneth McMicken died of a sudden heart attack. Old-timers say things were never the same after losing those two men-first cousins who had a dramatic impact on farming not only in Arizona but worldwide.
Affiliations
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Apprentice Farmers Program — Founder
