P. Marlin 2021
Greenfield Village is an outdoor museum located at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Established by industrialist Henry Ford in 1933, the village is a collection of nearly 100 historic relocated or reconstructed buildings from throughout the United States.
Henry Ford's interest in preservation of historic buildings began when his childhood home was threatened by a road improvement project in Ford's hometown of Springwells Township, Michigan (now the city of Dearborn). This meant that Ford's birthplace would have to be moved from its original location, or be destroyed. Ford decided to move the house and restore it. Determined to oversee the project, Ford meticulously recreated the details of the house as he remembered it. As he worked on other building restorations, Ford decided to create Greenfield Village, a place that would represent the early days of America up to the present.
Henry Ford at Greenfield Village in 1933. From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Enslaved African Americans built and lived in these brick quarters on the Hermitage Plantation, located just north of the city of Savannah in a rice-growing region. Owned by Henry McAlpin, this 1850 plantation had 200 enslaved workers who lived in about 50 similar buildings. They cultivated rice, and manufactured bricks, rice barrels, cast iron products, and lumber. Brick slave quarters are very rare. Bricks were used as a building material here because brick-making was an important industry on the Hermitage Plantation. 1
The Hermitage slave quarters in Savannah, Georgia. Library of Congress
Hermitage Slave Quarters today at the Greenfield Village. P Marlin 2021
Henry Ford acquired the Wright brothers' home and cycle shop and relocated the buildings from Dayton, Ohio, to his Dearborn, Michigan, museum complex in 1937. Ford placed the structures right next to each other in Greenfield Village. In Dayton, the buildings had been located a few blocks apart. Wright brothers collection at The Henry Ford 1
Exterior of Wright brothers home in Dayton, Ohio in 1895. The Wright Brothers
Exterior of Wright brothers childhood home today at Greenfield Village. P Marlin 2021
Interior of the Wright brothers home in 1895.The Wright Brothers
Interior of the Wright brothers home today at the Greenfield Village. P Marlin 2021
Wilbur and Orville Wright operated their Dayton, Ohio, bicycle business out of this building from 1897 to 1908. The brothers sold and repaired bikes, and even produced models under their own brands. Starting in 1899, the brothers performed much of the research, experimentation, design and construction of the first successful airplane at this building. In 1904, they closed their bicycle business to concentrate full time on airplanes, and continued to build improved models here through 1909. The original "Wright Flyer" was built here in sections and shipped, unassembled, to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville Wright maintained his office on the second floor until 1916. 1
Wright brothers bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio 1911. The Wright Brothers
Interior of the Wright brothers childhood home today at Greenfield Village. P Marlin 2021
The Wright bicycle shop was converted for a time to a machine shop for making airplane parts.
The Wright Brothers
Interior of the Wright brothers bicycle shop today at Greenfield Village. P Marlin 2021
In the late 1800s, Elizabeth Cohen operated a millinery store next to her husband’s dry goods store in Detroit. When Elizabeth's husband died and left her alone with a young family, she consolidated the shops under one roof. Living above the store, she was able to run a business and earn a living while staying near her children. Mrs. Cohen: A Fashion Entrepreneur
Exterior of Mrs. Cohen's Millinery Shop at its original site, Detroit, Michigan, 1935. From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Mrs. Cohen in front of her store. Original photo on display in the millinery shop. P Marlin 2021
Exterior of Mrs. Cohen shop in Greenfield Village today. P Marlin 2021
Between 1840 and 1847, Abraham Lincoln tried cases here as a traveling lawyer. Visiting once or twice a year, he worked mostly on cases resolving neighbors' disagreements over land, contracts, and debts. Read more about this building's history and removal to Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford's blog: Logan County Courthouse Story. 1
Group stand outside the Logan County Courthouse in 1900. From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Exterior of the Postville, Logan County Courthouse at Greenfield Village. P Marlin 2021
Interior of the Logan County courthouse in Greenfield
Village in 1935 with furnishings from Abraham Lincoln's home in
Springfield, Illinois. The Abraham Lincoln assassination chair from Ford's Theater was on display here for a time. From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Interior of the Postville, Logan County Courthouse at Greenfield Village today. P Marlin 2021
President Herbert Hoover with Henry Ford in Logan County Courthouse in 1937.
At the opening of Greenfield Village on October 21, 1929, President Herbert Hoover ignited a
memorial fire in the courthouse fireplace. In 1937, President Hoover returned to drop another
log on the still-burning blaze. From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Logan Courthouse fireplace at Greenfield Village today. P Marlin 2021
This is the parsonage where well-known newspaper writer George Matthew Adams was born and raised. His father was a Baptist minister in the neighboring First Baptist Church of Saline, Michigan. Henry Ford became acquainted with Adams and, in 1937, moved the parsonage to Greenfield Village.
Original site of the Adams home in Saline, Michigan 1916.
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
The Adams home at the Greenfield Village today. P Marlin 2021
Englebert Grimm sold moderately priced, factory-made jewelry, watches, and clocks along Michigan Avenue in Detroit from 1886 until 1931. Grimm and his family lived above the store in comfortable but relatively modest quarters. One of Grimm's customers in the 1890's was Henry Ford, then an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company. Ford enjoyed working with his watches in his spare time, and often stopped by the store to buy parts and chat with Grimm.1
Original site of Grimm Jewelry Store in Detroit. From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Exterior of the Grimm Jewelry store at Greenfield Village today. P Marlin 2021
This Greek Revival style home, built in 1835 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, appealed to Henry Ford and so he had it moved to Greenfield Village in 1937. Among its many residents over time, was the American poet, Robert Frost. Frost lived in the home while teaching at the University of Michigan in the 1920s. He wrote many poems here including "Spring Pools." 1
Robert Frost home in Ann Arbor 1932. From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Robert Frost home at Greenfield Village today. P Marlin 2021
Henry Ford was born and raised in this farmhouse, originally located a few miles northeast of where Greenfield Village is now located. From an early age, Henry was more interested in machines than farm work. His mother nurtured this interest. At 16 years of age, Henry left the family farm and headed into the big city of Detroit to try his hand at being a merchant.
When restoring this house, Henry Ford made sure everything was exactly as he remembered. For 18 months, he sent people around the country searching for the dining room stove like the one that was in his boyhood home.
Original exterior of the Henry Ford birthplace. From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Exterior of the Henry Ford birthplace at Greenfield Village
today. P Marlin 2021
Original interior hallway of the Henry Ford birthplace. From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Interior hallway of the Henry Ford birthplace at Greenfield Village today. P Marlin 2021
Original interior Sunday parlor of the Henry Ford birthplace. From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Interior fireplace and stove of the Sunday parlor at the Henry Ford birthplace as seen in the above original photo. P Marlin 2021
Interior decor of the Sunday parlor at the Henry Ford birthplace as seen in the above original photo. P Marlin 2021