National Historic Landmark · assembly plant · Detroit, Michigan

Ford Piquette Avenue Plant

Former car factory in Detroit, Michigan. Added to the National Register in 2002, and a National Historic Landmark.

Ford Model T - Serial No. 220, Built December 1908Ford N
Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 2 in the Commons category

What it is

Wikipedia · Ford Piquette Avenue Plant

The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a former automobile factory located within the Milwaukee Junction area of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Built in 1904, it was the second center of automobile production for the Ford Motor Company, after the Ford Mack Avenue Plant. At the Piquette Avenue Plant, the company created and first produced the Ford Model T, the car credited with initiating the mass use of automobiles in the United States. Prior to the Model T, several other car models were assembled at the factory. Early experiments using a moving assembly line to make cars were also conducted there. It was also the first factory where more than 100 cars were assembled in one day. While headquartered at the Piquette Avenue Plant, Ford Motor Company became the biggest U.S.-based automaker, and it remained so until the mid-1920s. The factory was used by the company until 1910, when its car production activity was relocated to the new, larger Highland Park Ford Plant.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

National Register of Historic Places
Property typeBuilding
Address411 Piquette Ave., Detroit, MI
CountyWayne County
ListedFeb 22, 2002
Reference number02000041
ArchitectSmithGroup
Type of placeassembly plant
DesignationsNational Historic Landmark
Contributing resources1 buildings
StandingYes

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Check the website
Address411 Piquette Ave., Detroit, MI
Websitefordpiquetteplant.org
Coordinates42.36859, -83.06557 · Directions ↗
Nearest national park unitRiver Raisin National Battlefield Park · 35 mi · on Park Atlas
Listing on the Register does not open the door. Unless a museum or park runs it, treat this as private property and see it from the sidewalk.

Explore

Why you would stay

Reference

Exists because it is true

Sources

Location, dates, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 02000041. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.