Ford Mack Avenue Plant
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Henry Ford started the Ford motor company in 1903 in a rented manufacturing shop on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Henry Ford was one of the few automotive pioneers who developed and improved successfully the transportation in the United Sates. Ford created one of the leading multinational automobile corporation in the world. The original Ford Mack Avenue burned down in 1941. It was rebuilt, though not in its original standing size. Today, the replica operates as the Ford Mack Avenue Museum and is accessible for tourists.
Henry Ford was born on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863.[1] Ford spent his childhood on his parents’ farm, helping on the farm while he went to a small one room school. From a young age, he showed strong interests in mechanics and a dislike for the lifestyle of a farmer. At the age of 16, Ford moved away from home to live in the city of Detroit. After three years of apprentice work as a machinist, he moved back to Dearborn but still worked for local factories, specifically on steam engines.[2] Ford used his interest in mechanics and development to establish his own company in a rented manufacturing shop owned by Albert Strelow, which later was named Ford Mack Avenue.[3]
During three years as an apprentice machinist at Edison Illuminating Company, Ford became an engineer.[4] Two years later he become a chief engineer and decided to pursue his own experiments with engines and leave the Edison Illuminating Company. During Ford’s experiments, he created a vehicle with the name Quadricycle.[5] It was Ford’s first experimental vehicle, which had two different speeds forward and no reverse.
Henry Ford several accomplishments during his career. The first two vehicles which were produced by Ford Motor Company are the Ford Model A and Ford Model AC.[6] Both of those models were the foundations for the Ford Model T which was the most produced and sold car in the US in 1918. In 1913, Ford developed the first assembly line for the Ford Company.[7] Henry Ford was one of very few, who successfully introduced the assembly line into his factory which lead to a huge increase in Ford productions.
Between 1903 and 1904, Ford Mack Avenue produced about 1,700 Ford vehicles.[8] In 1904, the Ford Motor Company left Ford Mack Avenue to expand the logistics and production of the vehicles.
Even after Henry Ford’s death in April 7. 1947, the Ford Motor Company continued to expand worldwide. His drive for improvement in mechanics and vehicle technology effected not just his life and the car industry but also many generations after. Ford remains one of the leading automobile producers in the world. Everything started in a rented manufacturing shop in Michigan, at the Ford Mack Avenue.
Sources
[1]The Life of Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, https://web.archive.org/web/20011005164558/http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/
[2] Biography.com Editors, Henry Ford Biography, A&E Television Networks, April 2, 2014, https://www.biography.com/business-figure/henry-ford
[3] The Life of Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, https://web.archive.org/web/20011005164558/http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/
[4] The Life of Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, https://web.archive.org/web/20011005164558/http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/
[5] The Life of Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, https://web.archive.org/web/20011005164558/http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/
[6] Henry Ford Founder, Ford Motor Company, https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/henry-ford/
[7] Biography.com Editors, Henry Ford Biography, A&E Television Networks, April 2, 2014,https://www.biography.com/business-figure/henry-ford
[8] Ford Mack Avenue Assembly Plant, http://www.fordmotorhistory.com/factories/mack/index.php