Ford Lake Dam

This one is a little tougher to write about because the details are a little more sparse.

 In the 1920's, the Ford empire was expanding and for the most part it was vertically integrated (meaning the company was producing the raw materials and parts for the cars).  I think he was starting to expand along the Huron River because of the ability of the river to provide cheap energy for his plants.

 This dam was built in 1932 and I think it was used to supply power to the Ford Ypsilanti Plant that was also built in 1932.

 I'm not sure how much energy this plant produced but it looked like it might be equivalent to the French Landing Dam.

 Looking up at the plant.  It has many styling cues from some of the older Ford factories.

 I tried to get a shot of the dam but I didn't really have a good vantage point for that.

 Not sure what this is.

 Looking down at the Huron River.

 The exit channel for the power plant.

 In 1969, the Ford Motor Company deeded the plant and dam to the City of Ypsilanti.  There appear to be a couple of nice parks nearby but they were both closed.  Again, I will have to check them out.

 The Ford Rawsonville Plant.  Well, the water tower for it anyway.  This plant opened in 1956 and I think was slated to be closed but it may be producing hybrid parts.

And a winter shot of Ford Lake.  Well part of it.  Ford Lake itself is pretty neat.

The Henry Ford Museum

Last time I was at the Henry Ford Museum, I decided to get a membership. They sent coupons so that I could take a guest, so I took my dad to the museum. I think it was the first time that he'd been there in a while. Unfortunately, I felt a little off when taking pictures so I didn't get that many.

They had a pretty cool Civil War exhibit going on. There were some papers from the National Archives that included letters, manifest lists, etc. It was interesting. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures of that...so here's a cannon.

This was a plane from an expedition to the Artic.

This was an Auto-Giro used by the Detroit News. It would take off like a plane and could land like a helicopter. It was used mostly in the 30's.

This was the limosine used by Eisenhower. They have others but this was the one that wasn't so blurry.

I don't remember what kind of car this was. They had all the cars clusted together because they are in the process of redoing their auto exhibit.

This is the Allegheny which was a steam engine that was used by the C & O Railroad to get stuff up and down the mountains. The thing is pretty huge.

The venerable DC-3. This particular one is in Northwest Airlines livery.

Another angle of the DC-3.

The Ford GT which won at the LeMans back in the 60's. It is a pretty cool looking car. For this shot, I got down on the ground. It is amazing how low to the ground it is.