Abandoned Goodyear Rubber Plant (Before Demolition), Jackson

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company opened in 1937 and had a good run, closing 47 years later in 1984.

The plant employed literally thousands of people starting near the beginning of World War II. Throughout the war years, the Jackson plant was instrumental in helping America win that war. Not only did the plant benefit the entire country, but it also went through millions of dollars in helping Jackson County grow and thrive.

It all came to a screeching halt on June 3, 1983 when a high-pressure water heater exploded, putting the brakes on production. But even before the explosion, the plant’s future was in jeopardy. In 1981, a meeting concerning the future of Goodyear and its 1,500 employees was held. More meetings were held until the issue was taken to the state legislature.

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Even though the Jackson plant ranked second in the country, cranking out up to 20,000 tires daily, employees were not getting paid as much as other Goodyear plant staff members...raking in just $11.45 per hour. It also didn’t help that the legislature didn’t seem to care much about the Jackson plant’s struggles and constantly were pushing back.

According to an Mlive article, after plant manager Ralph Stanford stepped down, a new manager was brought in, who cut the employee number down from 1,500 to 600. It was afterward that the explosion occurred, injuring nine employees, of which three were hospitalized. More workers dribbled away and when the plant closed for good on Jan. 11, 1984, approximately 300 workers remained.

The gallery below shows how the abandoned plant appeared years afterward.