The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a historic former factory located within the Milwaukee Junction area of Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. Constructed in 1904 as Ford Motor Company's second automobile production facility, after the Ford Mack Avenue Plant, the Piquette Plant was the center of development and assembly for several car models before Ford created and manufactured the Ford Model T— the car credited with initiating the mass adoption of the automobile in the United States. At the factory, Ford conducted its first experiments using a moving assembly line to produce automobiles; it was the first factory to manufacture more than 100 cars in a single day; and the building remains the oldest purpose-built automotive factory open to the public.
While headquartered at the Piquette Plant, Ford became the largest U.S.-based automaker, and it would remain so until the mid-1920s. Ford used the factory until 1910, when its car production moved to the new, larger Highland Park Ford Plant.
Studebaker bought the factory in 1911, using it to assemble cars until 1933. The building was sold in 1936, passing through a series of owners before becoming a museum in 2001. The museum's exhibits, visited by over 31,000 people in 2018, primarily highlight the nascent United States automotive industry.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, became a Michigan State Historic Site in 2003, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.
History
Ford period
Henry Ford, Detroit coal merchantAlexander Y. Malcomson, and a group of investors formed the Ford Motor Company on June 16, 1903, to assemble automobiles.[1]:10–11[2] The company's first car model, the original Ford Model A, began to be assembled that same month at the Ford Mack Avenue Plant, a rented wagon manufacturing shop in Detroit, Michigan.[1]:11–12 The company quickly outgrew this facility and, on April 10, 1904, bought a parcel of land off of Piquette Avenue in Detroit to accommodate a larger factory.[1]:12 The land was located in the Milwaukee Junction area, whose name is derived from a railroad junction within it.[1]:4,12 The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant's construction started on May 10, 1904.[1]:12 The company moved into its new factory the following October.[1]:13
The Detroit-based architectural firm Field, Hinchman & Smith designed the Piquette Avenue Plant.[1]:9,12 It is an example of late Victorian-style architecture and was modeled after New England textile mills.[1]:7[3] Designing factories based on this type of mill was common practice in the United States at the time.[4] The building is three stories high, 56 feet (17.1m) wide, and 402 feet (122.5m) long.[5][6] Its load-bearing exterior brick walls contain 355 windows, and its maple floors, supported by square oak beams and posts, cover 67,000 square feet (6,224.5m2).[1]:7[7] The Piquette Avenue Plant contains two elevator-stairwell combinations, one located on its northwest corner and the other located on its southwest side.[1]:5,7 Recalling a fire in March 1901 that destroyed the Olds Motor Works factory in Detroit, Henry Ford and the architects included a fire sprinkler system in the building's design, a rare feature for industrial buildings of the period.[8] This and several other original safety features in the factory, such as its firewalls, fire doors, and fire escapes, are still present.[1]:7[8] Water for the sprinkler system was supplied by a wooden water tank located on the building's roof.[1]:5 A brick powerhouse, measuring 36 feet (11.0m) wide by 57 feet (17.4m) long, was the original electricity provider for the factory, and was located near its northwest corner.[1]:4,12–13 The water tank and powerhouse no longer exist.[1]:4–5
The Piquette Avenue Plant's interior. Note the sliding fire doors at each firewall.
From October 1904 to the end of 1909, Ford Motor Company assembled car models B, C, F, K, N, R, S, and T at the Piquette Avenue Plant.[1]:20[9] Ford models B and C were the first car models produced at the factory starting in late 1904, and production of the Ford Model F began the following February.[1]:14 Most of the factory tasks were done by men, except for magneto assembly, which was done by women.[1]:20 Hand tools were used for the assembly work at fixed stations, and the completed components would be brought by hand to the chassis for final assembly.[1]:17–18,20 Completed cars were shipped to the company's distributors and dealers by rail using a spur line behind the building, which connected to a Michigan Central Railroadmain line.[1]:5,12 Due to variations in demand and car model changeover, the number of employees varied constantly, ranging from as low as 300 to as high as 700.[1]:20 The company did not recognize labor unions at the factory.[1]:21 Ford Motor Company was a member of the Employers’ Association of Detroit, an organization that prevented most of the city's factories from unionizing until the 1930s.[1]:21
In 1905, Ford Motor Company was the fourth-largest car producer in the United States, behind Cadillac, Rambler, and Oldsmobile.[1]:14 In the company's early years, most major components in its cars were manufactured by outside companies, including the "running gear" (the chassis, engine, transmission, drive shaft, and axles), which was supplied by the Dodge Brothers Company.[1]:11 That began to change in early 1906, when the Ford Manufacturing Company, a new, separate company created by Henry Ford and some Ford Motor Company stockholders, started to make engines and transmissions for the upcoming Ford Model N.[1]:15 The Ford Manufacturing Company was located at the Bellevue Avenue Plant, a leased factory off of Bellevue Avenue in Detroit.[1]:15–16 The Bellevue Avenue Plant was used until 1908, by which time almost all manufacturing of major components for Ford Motor Company cars was taking place at the Piquette Avenue Plant.[1]:14–15 Model N production began at the Piquette Avenue Plant in July 1906.[1]:14 That same month, Henry Ford bought the Ford Motor Company shares owned by fellow company co-founder Alexander Malcomson.[1]:11,15 While Malcomson was with the company, he and Henry Ford disagreed over the type of car that the company should produce.[1]:15 Malcomson preferred expensive cars, like the Ford Model K; Henry Ford favored inexpensive cars, like the Model N.[1]:15 Once Malcomson was no longer part of the company, Henry Ford, now with uncontested control, focused the company's efforts towards making cheap cars exclusively.[1]:15 The success of the Model N made Ford Motor Company the largest automaker in the United States by the end of 1906, a distinction that it would hold for twenty years.[1]:14
In January 1907, in a room located on the Piquette Avenue Plant's third floor in the northeast corner, the design process began for the Ford Model T, the car credited with starting the mass use of cars in the United States.[1]:10,18 Much of the design and experimental work for the new car was done by Henry Ford, draftsmanJoseph Galamb, engineerChilde Harold Wills, and machinist C.J. Smith.[1]:18Vanadium steel, an alloy lighter and stronger than standard steel, which was first used sparingly with the Ford Model N, R, and S, was used extensively with the Model T.[1]:17 The company revealed the plans for the Model T to its dealers on March 19, 1908.[1]:19
During July 1908, a few months before the Model T's introduction, a group of Piquette Avenue Plant employees experimented with the concept of using a moving assembly line to make cars, where the chassis would be moved to the workers for components to be installed.[1]:18 This effort was led by Charles E. Sorensen, the assistant to Peter E. Martin, who was the factory's superintendent.[1]:18[7] Sorensen believed that a moving assembly line would make car assembly faster, simpler, and easier.[1]:18 The experiments consisted of tying a rope to a Model N chassis and pulling it across the factory's third floor on skids until its axles and wheels were added.[1]:18 The chassis would then be rolled across the floor in notches, where specific components would be attached.[1]:18 At least one Model N was completed at the Piquette Avenue Plant using this process.[1]:18 Although Henry Ford encouraged these experiments, he did not implement a formal moving assembly line at the Piquette Avenue Plant, as all of his attention was focused on getting Model T production started on time.[1]:18 Despite not having a moving assembly line, the Piquette Avenue Plant, aided by the usage of interchangeable parts and other production improvements, produced 101 completed cars in a single day on June 4, 1908, an auto industry record at the time.[1]:18[10]
The first production Model T was completed at the Piquette Avenue Plant on September 27, 1908.[7] On May 1, 1909, due to overwhelming demand, Ford Motor Company stopped taking Model T orders for two months.[1]:19 To satisfy the unprecedented demand for the Model T, the company moved most of its car production activity to the new, larger Highland Park Ford Plant in Highland Park, Michigan, by January 1910.[1]:14,22 The company completely vacated the Piquette Avenue Plant by October 1910.[1]:14 The concept of using a moving assembly line to manufacture cars would be fully implemented at the Highland Park Ford Plant, starting on October 7, 1913.[11] Over 15 million Model T's would eventually be built, and the first 14,000 made in the United States were assembled at the Piquette Avenue Plant.[2][7]
Ford car models assembled at the Piquette Avenue Plant[1]:14–15[2]
First Ford Motor Company car model with the engine mounted in the front, which was intended to match European-style car designs.[12] Rarest of the company's pre-Model-T car models, with only seven known complete units that survive today.[13]
Wheelbase increased from 114 inches (289.6cm) to 120 inches (304.8cm) by 1907.[16] Evidence suggests that this car model's assembly and component production was moved to the Bellevue Avenue Plant by 1908.[1]:17
Declared the Car of the Century by an international jury of auto experts in December 1999.[17]
After Ford in the 20th century
Studebaker assembled cars, like this one, in the Piquette Avenue Plant when it owned the building.
The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant was sold in January 1911 to Studebaker, a major maker of various horse-drawn road vehicles since the 1850s.[1]:22 That same year, when the railroad spur line serving the factory was raised above street level, the loading dock behind the building was replaced with an elevated platform, level with the second floor.[1]:5 Also in 1911, Studebaker acquired the E-M-F Company, which owned a different car manufacturing complex on Piquette Avenue.[1]:22 Studebaker began to put its name on the cars formerly produced by the E-M-F Company in 1912.[1]:22 In 1913, the plant was one of the sites affected by the 1913 Studebaker strike, the automotive industry's first major labor strike.[18] In 1920, Studebaker built a four-story, reinforced concrete building, known as the Studebaker Detroit Service Building, immediately west of the Piquette Avenue Plant.[1]:5,22 In 1926, the elevator-stairwell combination on the Piquette Avenue Plant's southwest side was moved slightly northwards.[1]:7 This enabled the Detroit Service Building to be connected to the Piquette Avenue Plant's southwest corner on the second and third floors, which created a ground-level, drive-through access point to the court between the two buildings.[1]:5,7 Also in 1926, the machinery for both of the Piquette Avenue Plant's elevators was replaced.[1]:7 Studebaker used the Piquette Avenue Plant for car production until 1933.[19]
In 1936, Studebaker sold the Piquette Avenue Plant to the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), a producer of rubber auto parts and non-adhesive paper tape.[1]:23 Around 1937, the powerhouse and several other small buildings previously built by Ford Motor Company west of the factory were demolished.[1]:7,23 The Cadillac Overall Company, a work clothes supplier, purchased the building in 1968.[1]:23[9] The Heritage Investment Company bought the building in 1989 and owned it until 2000.[1]:23 Since the early 1990s, a company named General Linen & Uniform Service has occupied part of the Piquette Avenue Plant's first floor.[1]:23 The Detroit Service Building next door is now used by Henry Ford Health System to store medical records.[1]:23 The openings that previously allowed direct access between the two buildings on the second and third floors are now sealed.[1]:5 The Piquette Avenue Plant still stands in spite of the decline of Detroit, which began in the mid-20th century.[20]
Model T Automotive Heritage Complex
The restored office of Henry Ford in the Piquette Avenue Plant. Note the birdwatching telescope on the right.
The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant was sold to the Model T Automotive Heritage Complex in April 2000.[21] Model T Automotive Heritage Complex is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization that has run the building as a museum since July 27, 2001.[22][23] The Piquette Avenue Plant is the oldest purpose-built automotive factory building open to the public.[7][24][25] The museum, located north of Midtown Detroit at 461 Piquette Avenue, attracted 31,018 visitors in 2018.[26][27] It contains over 40 early automobiles built by Ford Motor Company and other Detroit-area car makers, as well as recreations of Henry Ford's office and the room where the Ford Model T was designed.[26][28] One of the cars on display is Model T Serial No. 220, which was built at the factory in December 1908, and is one of the oldest surviving examples of that car model.[29] The museum's regular operating days are Wednesdays through Sundays.[26]
The Piquette Avenue Plant was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, designated as a Michigan State Historic Site in 2003, and became a National Historic Landmark in 2006.[30] The building has also been a contributing property for the surrounding Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District since 2004.[31] The factory's front façade was fully restored to its 1904 appearance and revealed to the public on September 27, 2008, the 100th anniversary of the completion of the first production Model T.[32] On August 11, 2011, Model T Automotive Heritage Complex membership chairman Tom Genova was honored with a ROSE Award from the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau in the Volunteers category.[33][34] On May 18, 2012, the Model T Automotive Heritage Complex won a NAAMY Award from the National Association of Automobile Museums in the Films and Videos category for Division I (museums with budgets less than $300,000).[35] On November 10, 2015, the Window Restoration Team at the Piquette Avenue Plant received a MotorCities National Heritage Area Award of Excellence in the Preservation category.[36] Around 2016, the National Park Service considered adding the Piquette Avenue Plant to a list of places in the United States eligible for UNESCO World Heritage Site status.[37] It was ultimately not added, because it did not have enough of its original factory equipment, and because of recommendations that its nomination be expanded to include other Detroit-area Ford Motor Company sites, such as the Highland Park Ford Plant and the Ford River Rouge Complex.[37]
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.
The Henry Ford Company was an automobile manufacturer active from 1901 to 1902. Named after Henry Ford, it was his second company after the Detroit Automobile Company, which had been founded in 1899. The Henry Ford Company was founded November 1901 from the reorganization of the Detroit Automobile Company. The company, much like the Detroit Automobile Company, was plagued by disputes between Ford and his investors, and Ford left in 1902. Later that year, the company was reorganized as the Cadillac Automobile Company under the suggestion of Henry M. Leland. Cadillac, whose early vehicles were identical in design to those of Ford's later Ford Motor Company except for the engine, would develop a reputation for precision engineering and was acquired by the nascent General Motors (GM) in 1909, becoming GM's luxury marque. Ford would eventually find success with the Ford Motor Company, and is considered one of the primary pioneers of the automobile.
The E-M-F Company was an early American automobile manufacturer that produced automobiles from 1909 to 1912. The name E-M-F was gleaned from the initials of the three company founders: Barney Everitt, William Metzger, and Walter Flanders.
The Highland Park Ford Plant is a historic former Ford Motor Company factory located at 91 Manchester Street in Highland Park, Michigan. It was Ford's third facotry, 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. Highland Park became a National Historic Landmark in 1978.
Fisher Body was an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan.
The Ford River Rouge complex is a Ford Motor Company automobile factory complex located in Dearborn, Michigan, along the River Rouge, upstream from its confluence with the Detroit River at Zug Island. Construction began in 1917, and when it was completed in 1928, it was the largest integrated factory in the world, surpassing Buick City, built in 1904.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan.
The Packard Proving Grounds, was a proving ground established in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan in 1927 by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Detroit Automobile Company (DAC) was an early American automobile manufacturer founded on August 5, 1899, in Detroit, Michigan. It was the first venture of its kind in Detroit. Automotive mechanic Henry Ford attracted the financial backing of twelve investors; Detroit Mayor William Maybury, William H. Murphy and others. As with many early car ventures, the company floundered, and it was dissolved in January 1901. Twenty vehicles were built and $86,000 of investment was lost.
The Ford Motor Company is an American automaker, the world's fifth largest based on worldwide vehicle sales. Based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, it was founded by Henry Ford on June 16, 1903. Ford Motor Company would go on to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. The largest family-controlled company in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous family control for over 110 years. Ford now encompasses two brands: Ford and Lincoln. Ford once owned 5 other luxury brands: Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Mercury. Over time, those brands were sold to other companies and Mercury was discontinued.
The New Amsterdam Historic District is a historic district located in Detroit, Michigan. Buildings in this district are on or near three sequential east-west streets on the two blocks between Woodward Avenue and Second Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District is a historic district located along Piquette Street in Detroit, Michigan, from Woodward Avenue on the west to Hastings Street on the east. The district extends approximately one block south of Piquette to Harper, and one block north to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad Line. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit, Michigan.
The Lincoln Motor Company Plant was an automotive plant at 6200 West Warren Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, later known as the Detroit Edison Warren Service Center. The complex was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, due to its historic association with World War I Liberty engines and the Lincoln Motor Company. However, the main structures were demolished in 2003 and NHL designation was withdrawn in 2005.
Milwaukee Junction is an area in Detroit, Michigan, east of New Center. Located near the railroad junction of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad's predecessors Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway and the Chicago, Detroit and Canada Grand Trunk Junction, the area encompasses the streets of East Grand Boulevard to the north, St. Aubin St./Hamtramck Drive to the east, John R Street to the west, and the border following I-94 to the south. Due to the presence of numerous car companies within it at the turn of the 20th century, Milwaukee Junction is considered the "cradle of the Detroit auto industry".
The Flanders Automobile Company was a short-lived US-American automobile manufacturer which operated in Detroit, Michigan, from 1910 to 1913. Its only product was sold through Studebaker dealerships.
The Packard Automotive Plant was an automobile-manufacturing factory in Detroit, Michigan, where luxury cars were made by the Packard Motor Car Company and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Demolition began on building 21 on October 27, 2022, and a second round of demolition began on building 28 on January 24, 2023, which was wrapped up by April 1, however all demolition efforts by the City of Detroit halted, which stopped finishing demolition work of building 21. The Packard Plant currently sits empty and partially demolished, with many parcels still remaining.
The Ford Mack Avenue Plant, a rented wagon manufacturing shop in Detroit, Michigan, was the first facility used by the Ford Motor Company to assemble automobiles. Henry Ford began to occupy it in April 1903 in preparation for the company's incorporation, which occurred on June 16, 1903. Production of the original Ford Model A began that same month after the incorporation. Soon after, the building was expanded and a second story was added to increase production. The Model A was followed by the Model AC, which was a Model A with the larger Ford Model C engine. Most of the major car components were manufactured by outside companies, including the "running gear", which was supplied by the Dodge Brothers Company. A total of 1,708 cars were assembled at the Mack Avenue Plant. The company occupied the building until October 1904, when its manufacturing operations were moved to the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, where the Ford Model T would later be built.
Duncan & Fraser Limited was a vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1865 in Adelaide, South Australia that built horse-drawn carriages and horse trams, and subsequently bodies for trains, electric trams and motor cars, becoming one of the largest carriage building companies in Australia.
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