In 1907 the Goodyear Tire Company entered into a contract with Henry Ford to provide the tires for the Model T, as a result, Goodyear needed to step up production of their tires.

They purchased a rubber company in Bowmanville, Ontario and expanded their tire manufacturing in Canada.

The history of the company Goodyear purchased dates back to 1898 when it was the Bowmanville Robber Company, they then changed their name to Durham Rubber Company and relocated to this location, next to Bowmanville Creek so they could run their water waste into the creek.

For over 100 years this facility had operated under a few different names, finally closing down in 2016.

In 2023 there were ta number of fires inside the plant, likely caused by the rampant scrapping that had been taking place inside.

When I explored the building I met a scrapper who told me that he walks out with over $1,000 in copper every time he came, and he only focussed on small pieces, not the large pieces.

Later on in my explore I heard the sound of a saw inside and could smell something burning, there were scrappers on the other end of the building cutting out larger pieces of copper for scrap.

The lack of any security measures made this location a hot spot for scrappers, graffiti artists and urban explorers.

Late in the summer of 2023 it was announced that plans had been approved for the demolition of most of the buildings and structures on the site.