Paul Litchfield’s first contact with the Boy Scout movement was in 1911 when he took a
trip to witness the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.  During the trip, his
ship encountered dense fog for days while under iceberg watch at the mouth of the St.
Lawrence.
 
The eerie experience was saved by the cheerful countenance of a Boy Scout troop from
Alberta, also attending the coronation ceremony.  Mr. Litchfield asked many questions of
the boys since he had only just been introduced to the concept of scouting by fellow
businessman W. D. Boyce the year before.  Mr. Litchfield was so impressed by the
Alberta boys that scouting became one of his primary interests from that point on.
 
Mr. Litchfield believed that the twelve points of the scout law were, a creed on which
anyone might build his life.  Having been an outdoorsman as a youth, he was
especially fond of scoutings emphasis on outdoor activities and training in self-reliance.
After his return from the coronation, Mr. Litchfield started his first Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Company Boy Scout Troop and built the first Scout Lodge in Goodyear Heights,
just outside of Akron, Ohio. It was because of the success of the Akron Troop 40 that he
proceeded to open troops everywhere Goodyear had plants.

​

That included Litchfield Park. Troop 90 was chartered January 31, 1929, for the families
of the Goodyear Farm operation. They met at the elementary school, or The Church at
Litchfield Park, or the corral until the lodge was built. As WWII approached, Mr.
Litchfield established the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation and in August 1943 he
chartered Troop 99 for the workers families. They had built a scout lodge in 1944 in
Goodyear, AZ, but later moved to the Litchfield Park Lodge.

The Litchfield Park Scout Lodge was dedicated in 1954 by Mr. Litchfield. For 72-years
the Lodge has served well over 250 Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts every week.