Goodyear Farms Historic Cemetery

Paul Weeks Litchfield was an American industrialist, born in Boston, Massachusetts, who in 1900 became the superintendent of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company plant in Akron, Ohio. During World War I, the demand for cotton was in an all-time high in the United States. The United States Department of Agriculture suggested that cotton could be grown in the area surrounding Phoenix, Arizona. Litchfield went to Phoenix, but was unsuccessful. He did become interested in the Salt River Valley area and convinced the Goodyear to establish the Southwest Cotton Company in Phoenix. Litchfield was named president and he purchased 36,000 acres (15,000 ha) in the general Salt River Valley area which included 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) around the present site of Litchfield Park, then known as Litchfield Ranch.[3][4][5]

Two thousand men and women, mostly Mexican migrants and Native Americans were recruited by the Southwest Cotton Company. They transformed the desert area into agricultural fields which they worked and cultivated thousands of acres of cotton fields.[3][4][5]

In 1917, Litchfield established the cemetery for the employees of the Goodyear Farms and the Wigwam Resort.The cemetery was first called the "Pioneer Cemetery" and later changed to "Litchfield Cemetery". In 1918, the labor camps in Arizona were not exempt from Spanish influenza pandemic. Many of the workers of the Litchfield Ranch were affected and died. It is believed that there are approximately 1700 graves in the cemetery. Most of the graves related to those who died from the epidemic are unmarked. Eventually, other workers and their families used this cemetery.[3][4][5]

Former Avondale City Councilman Amado B. Sernas (1908–1994) is buried there. Sernas Plaza in Avondale is named after him. The mural was painted by Cuban artist Victor Caldee in honor of those who worked the fields.[6][3][4][5] The cemetery dedication reads as follows:[7]

In 2017, the cemetery was subject to vandalism with racial and derogatory marks made on the tombs. When the community members found out they participated in a candlelight vigil set up by Avondale City Councilman Lorenzo Sierra. One example of the vandalism that has taken place is the attempt to scratch the name of Jose M. Villela from the historic monument dedication.[8]

• Litchfield Park, Arizona
• Goodyear, Arizona
• Avondale, Arizona
• Adamsville A.O.U.W. Cemetery
• Glendale Memorial Park Cemetery
• Pioneer and Military Memorial Park
• Double Butte Cemetery
• Home Mission Cemetery
• Greenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery
• St. Francis Catholic Cemetery
• Historic Pinal Cemetery
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Maricopa County, Arizona

• "Litchfield Park"; by: Crouch, Celeste S.; Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; ASIN B00IX652AG.
• "Los Campos" (The Camps of Litchfield Park 1929–1986); by: Cruz Pariga Dominguez and Belen Soto Moreno; Publisher: Litchfield Park Historical Society; ISBN 0692903534, 978-0692903537

• "Pioneer Cemetery in Arizona Evokes Mexican Migrant Workers' Roots", Barriozona Magazine, April 10 2010