How Litchfield Park Got Its Name: The Goodyear Cotton and Wigwam Story

Litchfield Park got its name from Paul W. Litchfield, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber executive who came to the West Valley in 1916 to grow long-staple cotton for tire cords. The farm settlement was called Litchfield Ranch until 1926, when the name Litchfield Park was adopted, and the town incorporated in 1987.

I drive through Litchfield Park a lot when I'm showing homes in the West Valley, and it always feels a little different from the cities around it. It's small, quiet and walkable near the old resort, and the reason it exists at all has to do with car tires and a cotton shortage more than a century ago. Here's the story as best the history books tell it.

A Tire Company Needed Cotton

In the early days of the automobile, the cords inside pneumatic tires were made with strong long-staple cotton. Most of that cotton came from the Sea Islands along the Georgia coast and from Egypt. Around the time of World War I, both supplies were in trouble. The boll weevil was hurting the East Coast crop, and the war disrupted shipping from overseas.

Goodyear needed its own source. The U.S. Department of Agriculture pointed the company toward the Phoenix area, where the long, hot growing season and irrigation water from the Salt River Valley made long-staple cotton possible. In 1916, Goodyear sent Paul Litchfield west to make it happen.

Who Was Paul Litchfield?

Paul Weeks Litchfield was born in Boston in 1875 and earned a chemical engineering degree from MIT in 1896. He joined Goodyear's plant in Akron, Ohio, became its superintendent, and went on to lead the company. He became chairman of the board in 1930.

When he got to Arizona, he first tried to convince local farmers to grow cotton for Goodyear. According to the Wigwam's history, there wasn't much interest, so he persuaded the company to farm it directly. Goodyear formed the Southwest Cotton Company with Litchfield as president, and he went on to acquire roughly 36,000 acres in the Salt River Valley. About 5,000 of those acres surrounded the spot that became Litchfield Park. The company recruited around 2,000 workers to plant and pick the crop.

From Litchfield Ranch to Litchfield Park

At first the settlement was simply known as Litchfield Ranch. In 1926 the U.S. Postal Service agreed to the name Litchfield Park, and that's the name that stuck. The area served as headquarters for Goodyear Farms, with thousands of acres under cultivation, and from 1931 to 1944 the community was a test site for Goodyear tires.

A fun bit of trivia: Litchfield's name ended up on more than one map. He is also credited as the founder of the neighboring city of Goodyear, and Litchfield Road, which many West Valley drivers use every day, is named for him.

How The Wigwam Began

The building that grew into today's Wigwam resort started in 1918 as the "Organization House," a place for visitors connected to Goodyear's operations to stay. On Thanksgiving Day 1929, it opened to the public as The Wigwam guest ranch, with only six guest accommodations at first. Litchfield added more rooms over the following years.

Golf came early, too. Goodyear started with a nine-hole course that was later expanded to 18. Today the resort has three 18-hole courses: the Gold and the Blue, designed by famed architect Robert Trent Jones Sr., and the Red, which came along later. During World War II, the resort closed to the public and housed pilots training at nearby Luke Field, the field that later became Luke Air Force Base.

Over the decades The Wigwam hosted well-known guests including Bing Crosby, Gene Autry and Paul Newman, according to Historic Hotels of America, which added the resort to its program in 2010.

The Big Plan That Didn't Happen

In 1964, Goodyear created the Litchfield Park Land and Development Company with a plan for a much larger city of about 25,000 homes and 90,000 residents. That plan was eventually abandoned and the land was sold. It's part of why Litchfield Park stayed small. The city covers only about 3.3 square miles, and much of the growth you see around it today happened in Goodyear, Avondale and the newer communities nearby.

Litchfield Park Today

What I like to point out to buyers is how the history still shows. The small downtown sits next to the resort, there's a library, a community pool and several parks, and golf is part of daily life for a lot of homeowners. White Tank Mountain Regional Park and Estrella Mountain Regional Park are both close for hiking, and Wildlife World Zoo is a few miles to the northwest.

If you want to see what homes look like there now, my Litchfield Park relocation guide covers the basics, and you can browse current Litchfield Park homes for sale. Since Litchfield Park is surrounded by Goodyear, my guide to moving to Goodyear is helpful too. And if you enjoy town-name stories, read how Queen Creek got its name.

Questions People Ask

Who is Litchfield Park named after?
It is named after Paul W. Litchfield, a Goodyear Tire and Rubber executive who later became chairman of the company and who led its Arizona cotton operation starting in 1916.

Why did Goodyear grow cotton in Arizona?
Goodyear needed long-staple cotton for tire cords, and World War I and the boll weevil threatened its usual supply from Egypt and the Sea Islands. The Phoenix area's climate and irrigation made it a good place to grow its own.

When did The Wigwam open?
The Wigwam opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day 1929 as a guest ranch with six guest accommodations. Its first building, the Organization House, dates to 1918.

Terry Day, REALTOR®, DeLex Realty, 10115 E Bell Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260.