Rouge Plant: Emblem of Fordism

["Charles Brown" <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Rouge plant -- the art of industry 
By Vivian Baulch and Patricia Zacharias / The Detroit News 
 
      During the late 1920s and early 1930s the Ford Rouge plant became the
largest industrial complex in the world, as well as the most advanced,
architecturally and technically. 
      Because Henry Ford was determined to be independent of suppliers, he
developed the Rouge into an almost self-sufficient and self-contained
industrial city. Construction began on April 1, 1917 and 10 years later the
facility contained 93 structures, 90 miles of railroad tracks, 27 miles of
conveyors, 53,000 machine tools and 75,000 employees. Detroit architect
Albert Kahn designed most of the complex.  

      Today, the Rouge is only one of many Ford Motor Co. manufacturing and
assembling facilities. But it is still unique in American industry. 
      Situated on more than 2,000 acres in Dearborn along the Rouge River, a
tributary of the Detroit River southwest of downtown Detroit, the Rouge
plant was built to easily receive iron ore from Upper Michigan and coal from
Pennsylvania by ship. A huge basin in the Rouge allowed the freighters room
to easily dock, unload and maneuver out. 
      Henry Ford had purchased the site in 1915 as a new home for his
revolutionary automated assembly line, perfected at his Highland Park
facility. On May 26, 1927, the last Model T came off the line at Highland
Park. In September of that year the new Model A began rolling out of the
Rouge plant. Over the next 15 years, 15 million cars paraded out of the
Rouge. 
      The Rouge incorporated all phases of auto production. In addition to
steel forging and stamping operations, manufacture of parts and the assembly
of automobiles, the Rouge also included a power plant, glass plant, cement
plant, and byproducts plant which produced petroleum products, such as
paints, fertilizers, and charcoal. 

Full at
http://www.detnews.com/history/rouge/rouge.htm

      



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