Greenfield Village Open-Air Museum

Preservation owes a lot to Henry Ford. But in the process of making people aware of the value of the past, he made a number of mistakes. One that modern experts find most objectionable was his uprooting of buildings from their original sites, thereby stripping them of their historical context, all in the name of historical preservation. (The above came from a Detroit Free Press newspaper article from, I believe, the early 1980's.) I've heard this argument countless times during discussions. I've also read newspaper and magazine editorials concerning this practice. And it never ceases to amaze me that some can't see the forest for the trees. Case in point are the many small localized historic structures dotting the maps that still remain on (or very close to) their original site, such as my own hometown's 1872 school house. We've had many, many public activities held inside the school house, much of it in such a way as to give publi...

The cotton Gin Mill, originally from Richmond Hill Plantation in Ways, Georgia, is said to be the only building on the plantation that remained standing after General Sherman marched his troops through the district on their way to the sea in late 1864. The Cotton Gin Mill The Sorghum Mill, believed to be from the 1850's, was reassembled from an old sugar mill found in Louisiana near Harahan not far from New Orleans. During the autumn, sorghum cane raised in fields was fed into the shredding and roller-press machinery to extract the juice.The juice would then be heated in pans over a fire to be made into syrup. However, when Greenfield Village would make it, the liquid was instead passed into shallow defecating tanks where it was heated by steam pipes. It is estimated that 30 to 40 gallons of syrup could be made in one day. The Sorghum (Sugar) Mill These are the only photos I was able to obtain of both the Rice and Sugar mills, and I had to get them from an out-of-print ...

The following post was written by Nicole from Dining in Detroit , a blog dedicated to...well...the fine food one can find in the Detroit area. She has done a wonderful job in writing about a subject one rarely thinks about when visiting Greenfield Village: eating ! ~~~~~~~~~~~ The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village is a phenomenal collection of local historical artifacts, a treasure trove of Detroit's automotive history (and by extension, America's industrial history), as well as an elaborate piece of preserved Americana: "American's Greatest History Attraction." But did you know that the food service program in both the Museum and the Village (including the Village's full-service restaurant, Eagle Tavern) is one of the most passionately and progressively locally-sourced menus in metro Detroit? 'Tis true. When Director of Food Services and Catering Jesse Eisenhuth took over the operations just a few short months ago, he saw that there w...

From its inception over 80 years ago through today, Greenfield Village has gone through numerous layouts, which is no easy task considering that it is actual buildings - historic buildings - that are being moved. I'm sure with each change there were complaints. Well, of course, unless it was Mr. Ford's idea. No one disagreed with the Big Guy. But, even with the last major restructuring in 2003 their were disgruntled customers. My opinion is as long as it's kept historically accurate, I don't mind. What I thought I'd do here was to show, through original six maps from six different decades, the ever-growing and ever-changing history of Greenfield Village. To see the graphics larger, please click onto the photo. Our first map takes us back to October 29, 1929 - that very first rainy day that Henry Ford opened up his Greenfield Village to special guests. Here was Mr. Ford's original vision: Twelve years later, in 1941, one can see just how much the Village grew: ...

Table of Contents Structures Ackley Covered Bridge Adams Family Home Adams Family Home Mourning Presentation A & S Machine Shop aka Armington & Sims Shop & Foundry Bagley Avenue Workshop Sir John Bennett Sweet Shop Blacksmith Shop Luther Burbank Birthplace Luther Burbank Office Cape Cod Windmill) Carousel ( Herschell-Spillman ) George Washington Carver Cabin Chapman Family Home Cider Mill ( Martinsville Cider Mill) ) The Clinton Inn ( The Eagle Tavern ) Cohen Millinery Shop Cotswold Cottage Cotswold Cottage Dovecote Cotswold Forge Daggett Farmhouse The Eagle Tavern ( The Clinton Inn ) Edison's Fort Meyer, Florida Laboratory Edison Homestead Edison Illuminating Company Edison Menlo Park Laboratory Edison Menlo Park Glass House Edison's Menlo Park Machine Shop Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Office and Library Edison Menlo Park Woodworking Shop Fairfield Rice Mill) ( Pottery Shop ...

I have been continuing my research on the structures of Greenfield Village - albeit a bit more slowly than I would like - and have found some fascinating facts and stories that seemingly bring the old buildings to life. Here are some of the postings that have been updated and I have added to since I originally wrote the information: Dr. Howard's Office Ackley Covered Bridge The Clinton Inn aka The Eagle Tavern .

One of the nicest "activities" to do at Greenfield Village is to take a guided tour around the open-air museum in one of the omnibuses on hand. Omnibuses were most often large, enclosed horse-drawn vehicles used for public transportation and for general utilities in 19th century cities. However, Greenfield Village uses a smaller style omnibus that was sometimes referred to as an 'opera' or 'private' bus. These smaller 'buses had comfortable, roomy seating, easily accommodating four to six passengers. It made an ideal carriage for family shopping excursions during the day, and a convenient carry-all for evening when, perhaps, several members of the family went to supper or to the opera. Because of their rear door entry it was usually backed up to a curb for entry and exit. The drivers of the omnibuses at Greenfield Village are a wonderful source of information, telling historical facts about many of the numerous structures you will see on your horse-drawn ...