Ford Highland Park Plant Site, Michigan

The Highland Park plant though, north of downtown Detroit, was where Ford’s assembly line method was proven, changing the world of mass production. When it opened in 1910, to assemble the Model T, it had 90 acres under one roof, nearly 4 million square feet, the largest manufacturing plant in the country. When the moving assembly line was implemented there in 1913, manufacturing time for the Model T went from 728 minutes per car to 93 minutes, making the car affordable and available to many more people. It could produce a million cars a year. Though the parts for Model T’s were produced at the Rouge Plant, the final assembly took place at the Highland Park assembly plant, and at Ford plants in other cities, including Louisville and Chicago. Over the 19 year span of production, more than 16 million Model T’s were produced. In 1927, the Model T was finally replaced by the Model A, which were produced at the Rouge plant, and in other cities. After that the Highland Park plant made parts; Sherman Tanks in WWII; then eventually became storage, with buildings leased to other companies. Today just a few pieces of the original complex remain, vacant or used for warehousing, with the rest open lots, parkland, and a shopping center.