Henry Ford built his first motorized vehicle in a one-story brick workshop at 220 Bagley in the late 1890s. By 1899, he attempted to produce automobiles in larger numbers. For a time, Ford rented a small building on Mack to manufacture cars. On June 16, 1903 Henry Ford and 12 other Detroit men met in the offices of architect Alexander Malcomson, located at the intersection of Griswold and Jefferson, and organized the Ford Motor Company. They provided the financial resources to build this factory at the corner of Piquette and Beaubien. Horace Rackham was one of the founders, a man who contributed substantial funds to the University of Michigan, attaching his name to one impressive building in Ann Arbor and another at the corner of Warren and Woodward.
The Detroit architects Henry Field, Theodore Hinchman and Fred Smith designed this Piquette Street plant for the production of Ford cars. It is a three-story, mill style building that predated the use of reinforced concrete. Note that it resembles a 19th century New England textile mill. Fire was a major concern, so each floor was divided into four separate sections using firewalls. Presumably, if a fire broke out, it could be contained to one section of one floor. There is a decorative battlemented cornice on the Piquette street front of this building. The location was selected, in large part, because of its location at the railroad crossing known as Milwaukee Junction; that is, the intersection of the Michigan Central belt line and the Grand Trunk line that extended from Detroit to Grand Haven where freight cars were put on ferries for Milwaukee, Chicago and points West.
Henry Ford built the first Model T's in this building and attempted to increase production but the size of this plant, about 400 by 56 feet, was too small so, as early as 1910, Ford started shifting production to new plants in Highland Park.
Architects: Henry Field, Theodore Hinchman and Fred Smith
Date of Completion: 1904
Use in 2002: This building is used as a warehouse. There is
a Ford Motor historical society that seeks to preserve this building to commemorate
the development of Ford cars, especially the Model T.
This historically significant building is not listed on the
State or National Historical Register.
Photo: R. Farley; July, 2002