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Ford Motor Company
National Register
Historic Photo from NRHP Filing
all 3 have contract w / counsel 06 UDAG. City wd acquire 100 wt.. project. / / and clr. Sell it to investors which ford will supply grant to restore s.c. / who lease back. drawings.
National Register of Historic Places Filing
National SignificanceArchitectureIndustryEngineering1910-1927
The Highland Park Plant was where Henry Ford realized his goal of a car every man could afford. It was the largest industrial establishment under one roof in Michigan, exemplifying the 'system.' A system was necessary for efficient mass production and at Highland Park two essential elements were added -- The continuous motion of work and careful timing to keep all the moving lines geared at the proper speed. Once these were fully added, mass production had been created. Called by some the 'Crystal Palace,' the main structure was built by Albert Kahn, assisted by Edward Gray, Ford construction engineer. Construction began in 1909 and the formal move into the main building was made on January 1, 1910. Building on other additions continued for the next few years. The plant had been tooled regardless of cost and represented the greatest advances in the mechanical arts (1913). A partial assembly line was on the second floor where the radiator and other final parts were added to the chassis, and the bodies were fitted on with the aid of gravity slides. Another, more elaborate, sequential line was on the first floor of the main building. The motor, transmission, and axles were put together by men each performing a single task, his materials within reach on the floor. The chassis was shoved from stockpile to stockpile -- thus the line moved by jerks, not continuously. The jerkily moving line, fed with parts moved along the floor, was replaced in 1913 by a continuously moving line fed by continuously moving conveyors. The Elements of mass production had been put to use long before the Ford Company combined them; however, 'the focusing upon the principle of power, accuracy, economy, system, continuity, speed, and repetition' was their contribution to technology. As a result of this dynamic system, the Model T became the most popular vehicle in the history of mankind. After the River Rouge Plant was constructed (1927), the era of Highland Park passed. In its prime it was one of the most shining, and efficient factories in the world. Here evolved mass production -- a process which altered the world in general and America in particular. The early profits of the Model T and mass production grew the 'five-dollar day' which has been termed by some economists to be the greatest single step in the history of wages.
Physical Description
This nomination is concerned with the main structure at Highland Park fronting on Woodward Avenue. Utilitarian in its rectangular lines, it is four stories high and one-sixth of a mile long. Its immense window spaces give an impression of lightness and airiness. All, with the exception of the ornamental brick bastions at the four corners, was built of steel, concrete, and glass (more than 50,000 square feet). A one-story, 850 feet structure (machine shop) with a saw-tooth roof ran parallel to the Woodward Avenue building. Overhead traveling cranes extended between the two buildings as well as a transverse craneway. Side-openings in the two buildings made it easy to deliver and/or transfer materials from one building to the other; hence, the two buildings might be considered as one large building with a skylight-roofed craneway running down the middle and another extending to one side. The heavy machinery was on the ground floor and the three upper floors were devoted to a variety of uses. The heating plants with air washes were on the roof so that they could not only heat, but also ventilate and cool the buildings. The waste air heated the craneway. Thousands of holes were cut through the floor so that the parts that started in the rough on the top floor gravitated down, through chutes, conveyors, or tubes, and finally became a finished article on the ground floor. The Bliss presses in the machine shop pressed crankcases out of sheet steel and were for a time considered one of the unique features of the factory. The buildings have undergone numerous alterations over the years to accommodate a variety of uses. During the early 1940s the plant produced aircraft engine parts and manufactured tanks. After World War II the plant was converted to truck and tractor production. Truck production was ended in 1957. The plant is currently used for tractor and military vehicle operations.
Architect/Builder
Albert Kahn, assisted by Edward Gray
NRHP Ref# 73000961 • Data from National Park Service • Content available under CC BY-SA 4.0
Historical Photos
(1)all 3 have contract w / counsel 06 UDAG. City wd acquire 100 wt.. project. / / and clr. Sell it to investors which ford will supply grant to restore s.c. / who lease back. drawings.
Public Domain (Michigan Filing)
From Wikipedia
The Highland Park Ford Plant is a historic former Ford Motor Company factory located at 91 Manchester Street (at Woodward Avenue) in Highland Park, Michigan. It was Ford's third factory, it was the second American Model T production facility and it was the first factory in history to assemble automobiles on a moving assembly line. The Highland Park Ford Plant became a National Historic Landmark in 1978.Highland Park was designed by Albert Kahn Associates in 1908 and was opened in 1910. Ford automotive production had previously taken place at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, where the first Model Ts were built. The Highland Park Ford Plant was approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of the original Dodge Brothers factory who were subcontractors for Ford, producing precision engine and chassis components for the Model T. It was also approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of the former Brush-Maxwell plant, which later became Highland Park Chrysler Plant the headquarters for the Chrysler Corporation.[citation needed]The complex included offices, factories, a power plant and a foundry as part of Ford's strategy of integrating the supply chain. About 102 acres in size the Highland Park Plant was the largest manufacturing facility in the world at the time of its opening. Because of its spacious design, it set the precedent for many factories and production plants built thereafter.Using division of labor, rigorous cost-cutting and process optimization, the factory went through an experience curve to reduce price and increase volume. On October 7, 1913, the Highland Park Ford Plant became the first automobile production facility in the world to implement the moving assembly line. The new assembly line improved production time of the Model T from 728 to 93 minutes. The Highland Park assembly line lowered the price of the Model T from $700 (equivalent to $23,623 in 2024) in 1910 to $350 (equivalent to $8,590 in 2024) in 1917, making it an affordable automobile for most Americans. On January 5, 1914, Ford announced that factory wages would be raised from a daily rate of $2.34 (equivalent to $73 in 2024) to $5.00 (equivalent to $157 in 2024), and that daily shifts would be reduced from nine hours to eight. After the increase in pay, Ford claimed that the turnover rate of 31.9 percent in 1913 decreased to 1.4 percent in 1915. Ford offered nearly three times the wages paid at other unskilled manufacturing plants.In the late 1920s, the open Model T went out of fashion and Ford moved automobile assembly to the River Rouge Plant complex in nearby Dearborn to focus on improving quality with the Model A. Automotive trim manufacturing and Fordson tractor assembly continued at the Highland Park plant. The 1,690 M4A3 Sherman tanks built by Ford from June, 1942 to September, 1943 were assembled in this factory, as well.[citation needed]During the 1940s through 1960s, the Highland Park plant was a principal location for Ford U.S. tractor manufacture. In the 1970s, the Ford Romeo Engine Plant increasingly displaced it for that role.Ford sold their building and began leasing the space in 1981. Throughout the 1980s parts of the factory were dismantled and torn down, including a large factory building, the boiler building and the administrative building.By the mid-1990s neither plant was producing tractors or tractor parts, as Ford had sold off its tractor and implement interests in stages during the 1990-1993 period.[citation needed]During the 2010s large portions of steel-framed warehouse buildings were scrapped in favor of a stock yard for tenants. Other companies occupying this property included a scrap yard and a cement plant.By 2011, Ford used the facility to store documents and artefacts for the Henry Ford Museum. A portion is also occupied by a Forman Mills clothing warehouse that opened in 2006.The Woodward Avenue Action Association has a purchase agreement with the complex's owner, National Equity Corp., to pay $550,000 for two of eight buildings at the historic Ford manufacturing complex: a four-floor, 40,000-square-foot sales office and the 8,000-square-foot executive garage near it. The center would include a theater with continuous videos, informational kiosks, interpretive displays on automotive history and a gift/coffee/snack shop. It could also be a place where visitors could pick up historical automotive tours, such as the current tour offered by the Woodward group, "In the Steps of Henry".The former factory is now a mall, named Model-T-Plaza; the mall features architectural features recalling the location's origin.The remaining buildings W, X, Y, and Z at Highland Industrial Center occupy about 1.3 million square feet, and 10 parcels of land go to this site, which was formerly owned by the Woodland-Manchester Corp, and is now currently leased by a security company. No further businesses occupy the lot behind the factory building, as of 2021.The plant was used as a location for director Shawn Levy's 2011 Disney/Touchstone Pictures film Real Steel.• Highland Park Ford plant, c. 1922• Highland Park Ford plant, c. 1922•• South side streetscape of the Highland Park Ford plant complex• Large building that is part of the Ford plant complex (now the Highland Park Industrial Center)• National Register of Historic Places portal • Cars portal • Michigan portal• List of Ford factoriesWikimedia Commons has media related to Highland Park Ford Plant.• The Moving Assembly Line Debuted at the Highland Park Plant, Historic Sites, Heritage, Ford Motor Company official site.• National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, May 1977.• Ford's Highland Park plant a manufacturing pioneer, MotorCities National Heritage Area, Detroit News article, May 21, 2009.• National Historic Landmarks in Michigan, Michigan Historical Center, State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan State Housing Development Authority.• Ford search results - Historic Sites Online, Michigan Historical Center, State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan State Housing Development Authority.Other landmarks • Highland Park Ford PlantThis list is incomplete.EuropeOther locations • Category• Commons
Content available under CC BY-SA 4.0
Building Details
- Architect
- Albert Kahn
- Year Built
- 1909
- Building Type
- industrial
- National Register
- Listed
- Ref# 73000961
