Greenfield Village Open-Air Museum

Originally built as a machine shop by William McDonald in 1888 in Lapeer, Michigan, this structure today serves as a flexible program space and as refreshment location adjacent to Liberty Craftworks. It was brought to the Village in 1929. Unfortunately, that is all the information I have on this structure at this time. Check back for updated information this winter. .

Housed with functional authentic machinery powered by leather belts attached to an overhead line shaft from the company's Rhode Island plant, this replica of the original 19th century machine shop was built in Greenfield in 1928-29. It is typical of the plants constructed in the 1870's and '80's. It was during the 1880's that the workers here manufactured high-speed steam engines for the Edison Illuminating Companies. Other original Armington and Sims equipment includes drawing tables, desks, tools, safes, and hand presses. At one time, Greenfield Village craftsmen used this building for the restoration of antique machinery. .

It is truly unfortunate that, except for the Sarah Jordan Boarding House and the glass house, the Menlo Park buildings were dismantled for use elsewhere or were simply torn down. Fortunately, Henry Ford was able to locate much of the material used to construct the original buildings. This machine shop, an authentic replication of the original - which was built in 1878, after he received financing from Wall Street - was run by around a dozen journeymen machinists and numerous apprentices along with general laborers. The lathes, drills, milling machines, and planers were powerful enough to cut and shape iron and steel with great precision. The power to run such equipment was generated by a 75 horsepwer, sixteen foot long boiler that provided the steam for the steam engine, originally made in Massachusetts. It is located behind the paned glass seen in the above photo. The foreman, a Swiss-trained master machinist named John Kruesi, ran the shop with an iron hand, directing the wor...