People told us to spend at least 2 days at The Henry Ford and Greenfield Village in the Detroit area, so we did. I took so many pictures at Greenfield Village that my battery died so had to finish capturing what intrigued me with Barney’s phone. Don’t worry, we won’t show you every picture we took! We spent a couple of nights at the William C. Sterling State Park in Monroe, MI, right on Lake Erie–our 4th Great Lake of this trip.
iron gateway to The Henry Ford
The first day we spent the day at Greenfield Village, an 80-acre area Henry Ford built as a school for local children, many whose parents worked for him. Children would be in the classroom in the morning and then out in the village for hands-on learning. What a great idea.
The historic district included these areas: Working Farms, Liberty
Craftworks, Henry Ford’s Model T, Railroad Junction, Main Street, Edison at
Work, and Porches and Parlors.
Working Farms:
Firestone [tires] Farm
Harvey Firestone’s boyhood home. A grandson married a Ford, and that wife is now in her 90s. She was going to come visit in a couple of days with her grandchildren, so the staff was cleaning everything.
Women in the kitchen were so knowledgeable about the times and the home itself.
dining room
family rooms
basement laundry room
horses being used to plant the old fashioned way
Barn on the farm
sheep (providing the Marino wool) trying to get to the feed
Liberty Craftworks:
sawmills were often one of the first buildings in a town since buildings were made out of wood
We saw this same type of reciprocal saw at the Wade House coach stop outside of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, that you’ll see in our Wisconsin stops. Circular saws soon took over in sawmills.
Have you ever seen a circular stack of firewood? The only other time we’ve seen this way of stacking firewood was at Plymouth Plantation. After the the circle is made, the wood is dumped in the middle. The wood on top keeps the wood inside dry.
The pottery that they make here is beautiful! It takes 30 days from start to finish for a container to be made and ready for use.
Here is some of their work, but the picture doesn’t capture the artwork. We bought a Christmas ornament in the shape of a Model T that we can enjoy every year.
This intricately made blanket was made on a Jacquard Loom developed in 1801. The loom uses cardboard cards with punched out holes for the pattern.
Before automation with the cards, a young boy was above the loom setting up the pattern as the weaver called out what to do. Such beautiful work.
history of this loom
amazing!
these cutout cards were the inspiration for data processing
400 strands of wool are used for weaving this intricate pattern
the tin shop
carding mill
carding machine for cleaning wool
end result is this roll of wool ready for spinning
glass blowing shop
men starting the process of twisting and pulling, just like with taffy
and the strand gets longer and longer
the 2018 candy cane and bowl made out of the colored strands melted together
This is the color for the 2019 ornaments and bowls.
This building was built here (unlike many that were moved here–a whole other story), and then the large equipment was moved in.
Machines were on both sides of the room. Can you imagine the noise when they were running?
Railroad Junction:
roundhouse for fixing steam engines
why roundhouses were no longer needed, another end of an era
even a large triangle for announcing meals
Edison at Work:
Ford built replicas of Edison’s Menlo Park, NJ, and Fort Myers, FL, work buildings to showcase what he did.
Edison’s Florida laboratory
Florida workshop
machines needed for his inventions
A goal of 1 major invention every 6 months and 1 minor invention every 10 days? So ambitious.
Edison’s New Jersey office
Brick was equated to a strong business; appearances were important.
first floor of office
Telephones were assembled and packed for shipping in this room.
Assembled phones ready for shipping out.
Most of the men working for Edison were single and so needed a place to live close to work.
boarding house
One of the first homes to have electrical lighting. Makes sense since Edison’s workers lived here! See the cord along the ceiling?
Main Street:
The Wright brothers grew up in this house that was moved to this location. Also moved to Greenwood Village is the brothers’ store where they made bicycles.
Nice home inside. It’s been decorated on the outside for a Halloween party at the village.
While the Heinz house wasn’t much to see, but we loved learning that horseradish was their first item produced, not ketchup. Great to know if you love trivia.
We loved learning that marketing was important to the Heinz company. Probably one of the first companies to promote product recognition.
We hadn’t realized how hats were so important. I do remember my grandmother making hats to finish off dressy outfits during the 1950s and 1960s.
so many types of hats
She made this hat for herself . . .
and here’s the back of her beautiful hat.
Ford added his own boyhood home to the village.
It’s a very comfortable home inside.
Henry Ford’s Model T:
This replica is 1/4 the size of the original building where Ford started building his cars. The building had originally stored carriages.
Ford drove this car out of the plant himself. Must have been an amazing experience for him.
