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Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant

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Coordinates: 42°06′35″N 84°14′33″W / 42.10972°N 84.24250°W / 42.10972; -84.24250 (Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant)
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Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant
Location221 Mill St., Brooklyn, Michigan
Coordinates42°06′35″N 84°14′33″W / 42.10972°N 84.24250°W / 42.10972; -84.24250 (Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant)
Arealess than one acre
Built1938 (1938)
NRHP reference No.100000532[1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 12, 2017

The Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant is a former industrial plant located at 221 Mill Street in Brooklyn, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.[1]

History

In 1832, Calvin Swain purchased the land at this location along the River Raisin. Some time after that, he established a gristmill at the site.[2] The Brooklyn mill burned down in about 1912.[3] Henry Ford purchased the property in 1921, but did not use it for some time.[2] In 1938,[4] he constructed a new building constructed on the site, and the plant opened in 1939.[5] It employed up to 130 people making workers horn buttons and starter switches.[2] During World War II, production shifted to brass spark plug bushings for B-24 bombers.[2] After the war, the line returned to making horn buttons and starter switches until 1954, when production shifted to armrests and lamp lenses.[5]

The Brooklyn site closed in 1967.[5] After it was closed, the building was owned by Industrial Automotive Products, a subsidiary of Jackson Gear.[5] The building has been recently used to house a collector's Model T collection,[5] then housed an alternative fuel research company.[4] The building was purchased by Daniel and Samantha Ross in 2014 and is being converted into an Irish themed destination called the Old Irish Mill.[6] However, funding fell through in 2018.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Program: Weekly List". National Park Service. January 19, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Ren Farley (August 2010). "Henry Ford's Village Industries, Brooklyn Mill". Detroit1701. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  3. ^ Ted L. Ligibel (January 2000), "Henry Ford's Village Industries" (PDF), Impressions, Washtenaw County Historical Society
  4. ^ a b Taylor DesOrmeau. "From sawmill to Old Irish Mill, here are tenants of historic Brooklyn site". MLive.
  5. ^ a b c d e Howard P. Segal (2005), "Appendix: Basic Facts About and Present Status of the Nineteen Village Industries", Recasting the machine age: Henry Ford's village industries, Univ of Massachusetts Press, pp. 161–166, ISBN 1-55849-481-2
  6. ^ Tarryl Jackson (February 22, 2014). "Former Ford plant in Brooklyn to be transformed into authentic Irish culinary, recreation destination". MLive.
  7. ^ Taylor DesOrmeau (January 18, 2018). "Banks turn down $10 million Old Irish Mill, developer alters approach". MLive.
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