The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village and the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains the presidential limousine of John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln’s chair from Ford’s Theatre, Thomas Edison’s laboratory, the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop, the Rosa Parks bus, and many other historical exhibits. It is the largest indoor-outdoor museum complex in the United States and is visited by over 1.7 million people yearly. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 as Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1981 as “Edison Institute.”
History
Architect Robert O. Derrick designed the museum with a 523,000 square feet (48,600 m2) exhibit hall that extends 400 feet (120 m) behind the main façade. The façade spans 800 feet (240 m) and incorporates facsimiles of three structures from Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia – Old City Hall, Independence Hall, and Congress Hall.
President Herbert Hoover dedicated the Edison Institute to Ford’s longtime friend Thomas Edison on October 21, 1929 – the 50th anniversary of the first successful incandescent light bulb. The attendees included Marie Curie, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller, Will Rogers, Orville Wright, and about 250 others. The dedication was broadcast on the radio, with listeners encouraged to turn off their electric lights until the switch was flipped at the Museum. M&H Pest Control Detroit
The Edison Institute was initially a private site for educational purposes only. Still, after numerous inquiries about the complex, it was opened as a museum to the general public on June 22, 1933. It was originally composed of the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, and the Greenfield Village Schools (an experimental learning facility). Initially, Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum were owned by the Ford Motor Company, which is currently a school sponsor and cooperates with Henry Ford to provide the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. The Henry Ford is situated between the Ford Dearborn Development Center and several Ford engineering buildings with the same style of gates and brick fences in Detroit.
Greenfield Village
Greenfield Village, the outdoor living history museum section of the Henry Ford complex, was (along with the adjacent Henry Ford Museum) dedicated in 1929 and opened to the public in June 1933. It was the first outdoor museum of its type in the nation and served as a model for subsequent outdoor museums. Patrons enter the gate, passing the Josephine Ford Memorial Fountain and Benson Ford Research Center. Nearly one hundred historical buildings were moved to the property from their original locations and arranged in a “village” setting. The museum intends to show how Americans have lived and worked since the country’s founding. The Village includes buildings from the 17th century to the present, many of which are staffed by costumed interpreters who conduct period tasks like farming, sewing, and cooking. A collection of craft buildings such as pottery, glass-blowing, and tin shops provide demonstrations while producing materials used in the Village and for sale. The Village features costumed and plain-clothed presenters to tell stories and convey information about the attractions. Some of these presenters are seasonal, such as the “games on the green” presenters who only operate in the summer. Greenfield Village has 240 acres (970,000 m²) of land, of which only 90 acres (360,000 m²) are used for the attraction, the rest being forest, river, and extra pasture for the sheep and horses.
Address: 20900 Oakwood Blvd, Dearborn, Detroit, MI
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