Goodyear history: 'Wingfoot' house created in Goodyear

World War II changed the little town of Goodyear.

Goodyear Aircraft brought many workers that all needed housing. P.W. Litchfield, president of Southwest Cotton Co., later known as Goodyear Farms, was an innovator and problem solver. He and his company designed the "home of the future," a factory-built house 8 feet wide. Once on site, the bedroom wings were pulled out like drawers to yield a "T"-shaped, flat-roofed house. It had 255 square feet of living area. The completed house cost about $2,650 and could be transported on a trailer.

The exterior was made of pressed wood and a variety of pastel paint colors were available. The inside walls were plywood. Each house when set up on site came with plumbing; in the bathroom a toilet and shower. The kitchen had a gas stove, an ice refrigerator and hot water. It had built-in beds and dressers.

Southwest Cotton built a factory at Litchfield Airport where the houses were constructed beginning in 1943. Once built, they were placed in a horseshoe pattern and yards were nicely landscaped. Because of gas rationing and a shortage of tires and auto parts, a house close to the Goodyear Aircraft plant was highly desirable. Southwest Cotton retained ownership and rented the houses, primarily to Goodyear Aircraft workers. The "Wingfoot Clan," the weekly newsletter of the plant, advertised that houses would be available by the end of November 1943. By mid-November there were 36 applications for 25 houses.

These innovative Wingfoot houses provided needed housing in Wisconsin, too, where Milwaukee County used 184 of them as public housing. Los Alamos, N.M., purchased 125.

After the war ended and Goodyear Aircraft closed, married Navy personnel and civilian families lived in the houses. In 1958, they rented for $58 per month, all utilities paid. Other groupings of Wingfoot houses were in Litchfield Park and Avondale. In Avondale, the houses were on Greenleaf Lane, east of Litchfield Road, south of present-day Maricopa County Route 85. In fact, there are a few left on the east side of the street. Although they have been remodeled, the basic structure is a Wingfoot.

Sally Kiko is a board member of the Three Rivers Historical Society in the Southwest Valley. Visit www.threerivershistorical.com.