To look at the history of tires I picked up the story of Firestone, which was founded by Harvey Firestone. Interestingly, this company was acquired by Bridgestone of Japan in 1988.
The data in archives of rubber and tire industry tell us that the American trucking industry was born through Akron’s rubber capital of the world when the four major tire companies, namely, Goodrich Corporation (1869), Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (1898), Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (1900), and General Tire (1915) were headquartered in the city.
By the 1910s, Akron, Ohio was the fastest growing city in America, was able to attract thousands of people for good jobs in rubber and tire industry. Interestingly, by the time Goodyear was established in Akron in the 1890s, hundreds of rubber firms already called the city ‘home of their choice’ which impacted the economy and culture of the city.
During the first three decades of the twentieth...
