The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum – Self Guided Tour

THE FORD PIQUETTE AVENUE PLANT – Birthplace of the Model T

As the birthplace of the Ford Model T car, the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is recognized as one of the most significant automotive heritage sites in the world.

• Built: 1904 on Piquette Avenue and the Milwaukee Junction Rail Line
• Architect: Field, Hinchman & Smith, Detroit, Michigan
• Architectural style: A late Victorian style brick building, modeled after New England textile mills, with wooden post and beam frame
• Size: 402 feet long, 56 feet wide, three stories tall
• Powerhouse: A separate building, 36 feet x 57 feet
• Fire suppression features: Divided into four sections by three firewalls with fire doors, each section has fire escapes. A 25,000-gallon water tank on the roof fed an automatic sprinkler system, making it one of the earliest buildings in America with a fire suppression system
• Cost: The board approved $76,500 for construction in April 1904

HISTORY

• The Ford Motor Company’s first purpose-built factory. Previously space was rented on Mack Ave.
• Ford Models B, C, F, K, N, R, S, and T were assembled here.
• The Ford Model T was developed here, introduced in 1908 as a 1909 model.
• The first 12,000 Model Ts were assembled here and shipped out by railroad.
• Ford Motor Company relocated to its new Highland Park Plant in 1910, selling the Piquette building to Studebaker in 1911.
• Studebaker used it for automobile production until 1933.
• The building was occupied by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company and Cadillac Overall Company until purchased by Heritage Investment Company in 1989.
• It was sold in 2000 to the Model-T Automotive Heritage Complex, Inc., (doing business as) the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, that restored and now operates the historic site as a museum.

Visit www.fordpiquetteplant.org for ticket information!