Tuesday, July 27, 2021

The Ford Highland Park

 When I did the Woodward Avenue thing a few years ago, there were a few places I didn't stop and this was one of them.

This was Henry Ford's second plant for building the Model T.  It was designed by Albert Kahn in 1908 and was opened in 1910.  Henry Ford took the lessons learned at the Piquette Avenue plant and incorporated them here.  This was the first automobile assembly plant in the world to use a movable assembly line.

Instead of a group of people working on one car in separate stations, the car was built by moving along the line and having certain components assembled in certain places.  This was also where Henry Ford announced the then unheard of wage of $5 per day.  

By the 1920s, the Model T fell out of fashion and Ford opened his Rouge Assembly Plant.  This plant was used for automotive trim and Ford tractors.  During World War II, 1,690 Sherman tanks were built here.  By 2011, it was used for document storage and artifact storage for the Henry Ford museum.  Part of it is also used by Forman Mills.  There is talk of converting it into a museum of sorts.


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