Arizona Cotton Land - Chandler Arizona
N 33° 14.184 W 111° 50.903
12S E 420958 N 3677815
A marker dedicating the beginning of commercial cotton growing in the state of Arizona.
Waymark Code: WM8YEQ
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 05/31/2010
Views: 22
This marker Reads:
Arizona Cotton Land:
The land surrounding this cemetery represents the beginning of commercial cotton growing in Arizona. In January 1917, during World War I, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company founded the Southwest Cotton Company to begin producing long-staple cotton for domestic and military use.
People came from across the United States and Mexico to start a new life in the cotton fields. Migrant workers and their labor laid the agricultural foundation of the East Valley.
Dedicated by the Gila Butte Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution 2009.
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The marker is outside of the abandoned Goodyear-Ocotillo cemetery which is some of the last remnants of cotton community that existed between the two World Wars. The area surrounding is now developed into residential and commercial properties.
The Arizona Cotton boom occurred during World War I as a result of the development of Long Staple Egyptian Cotton. It yielded a greater tensile strength which made it valuable as an industrial fabric. The boom was a result its use in making wartime products such as making tires and other heavy manufacturing items. Tire companies like Goodyear, Firestone, and Dunlap relocated factories to Arizona to take advantage of the newly developed crop. The town of Goodyear was established in 1917 by the tire company specifically for establishing its factory and employees there. By 1920, cotton was so valuable and yielded so much money that almost all other crop productions from alfalfa to dairy were ceased in order to grow cotton instead.
However, after World War I many of the government contracts for cotton dried up as there was no longer a need for it. The resulting glut in the market resulted in the eventually end of the boom of cotton in Arizona.
Marker Name: Arizona Cotton Land
Type of history commemorated: Place
County: Maricopa
Name of any agency/ agencies setting marker:
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
Year placed: 2009
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Visit Instructions:
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