Goodyear

History

Goodyear was established in 1917 with the purchase of 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. Luke Field Auxiliary #6 (Goodyear Field) was built by the United States Army Air Forces in 1943. It served as a satellite airfield for Luke Army Air Field (AAF). According to the History of Luke AFB, this airfield boasted the most facilities. It had separate buildings for crew chiefs, operations, supply, barracks, pit latrine, crash truck shed, generator shed and a control tower. Luke AF Auxiliary #6 ceased operations by 1971. In January 1965, the Phoenix Trotting Park, a harness racing track, opened. The current Interstate 10 passes north of the site. As the region lacked major roads from Phoenix to Goodyear, there was not enough business and the track closed two years later. The park was demolished in 2017. The town became a city in 1985. In 1987, the remaining of the original farmland was sold to Suncor Development, a subsidiary of AZP (later renamed Pinnacle West Capital), for future development. The Phoenix Goodyear Airport received its current name in 1986. Although Goodyear was founded in 1917, the majority of construction and population growth happened after 1990. 22 communities that are completed and under construction have a total area of approximately . These communities, along with another 21 communities for future suburban development, will contain almost 200,000 homes, with only 25,000 built. Goodyear was…

Geography

Goodyear is approximately west of downtown Phoenix. Nearby cities include Avondale, Litchfield Park, Tolleson and Buckeye. From the original town center, the Goodyear city limits extend north to a border with Glendale and south-southeast into the Rainbow Valley to an area south of Arizona State Route 238. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.02%) is water. The Estrella Mountain Regional Park covers almost , most of which is still desert. It contains eight trails over in combined length, two baseball fields, and a track. Goodyear has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh) due to its location in the Sonoran Desert. The city receives somewhere around ten inches of rain annually. The city has more than 300 sunny days per year. Winters are sunny with mild temperatures—nighttime lows averaging between and daytime highs ranging from . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Goodyear is . Summers are very hot, with daily high temperatures at or above for the entirety of June, July, and August, as well as many days in May and September. An occasional heat wave will spike temperatures over briefly. Nighttime lows in the summer months average between , with an occasional overnight low above not uncommon. The highest recorded temperature in Goodyear is . Snow is rare in the area, occurring once every several years. Lows in the winter occasionally dip below freezing, which may damage some desert plants such as saguaros and other cacti. In the summer (mainly July, August and early September), the North American Monsoon can hit the Phoenix area in the afternoon and evening (possibly continuing overnight), causing thunderstorms and heavy rain even from a sunny morning. Dust storms are occasional, mainly during…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,042
• Verdin

  Auriparus flaviceps (Sundevall, 1850) · Aves
  3,700
• Abert's Towhee

  Melozone aberti (S.F.Baird, 1852) · Aves
  3,663
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,324
• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  3,170
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  3,084
• Gambel's Quail

  Callipepla gambelii (Gambel, 1843) · Aves
  2,999
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  2,897

Largest nearby schools

• Estrella Foothills High School
  High · GOODYEAR · 1,398 students · 26.9:1 ratio
• Westar Elementary School
  Elementary · GOODYEAR · 773 students · 20.3:1 ratio
• Rainbow Valley Elementary School
  Elementary · BUCKEYE · 605 students · 22.4:1 ratio
• Estrella Mountain Elementary School
  Elementary · GOODYEAR · 533 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• West-MEC - Estrella Foothills High School
  High · GOODYEAR · 2 students

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-03-15
  9 km SSE of Tat Momoli, Arizona
• M 2.6 — 2020-06-06
  5 km NW of New River, Arizona
• M 3.2 — 2016-12-10
  11 km ENE of Rio Verde, Arizona
• M 3.6 — 2015-11-02
  4 km NNE of Black Canyon City, Arizona