Ford Motor Co. Lamp Factory Marker – Flat Rock, Michigan
We are pleased to report that our State Historical Marker application for the Ford Motor Co. Lamp Factory in Flat Rock was recently approved. The marker should be fabricated and delivered for installation in the next three months. The marker text follows…
FORD MOTOR COMPANY LAMP FACTORY
This complex was part of Henry Ford’s “village industries” plan to decentralize production by building plants in rural areas. Designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn, the early-1920s complex comprised a factory with hydroelectric generators, a dam, and a water filtration plant that supplied water to the village. A 1926 newspaper announcement predicted: “Flat Rock Will Grow Like a Forest Fire.” The availability of hydroelectric power and factory jobs did spur the growth of Flat Rock and sustained it during the Depression. Between 1923 and 1938, 52 million lamp assemblies were made here. The factory produced a variety of lamps and lighting systems for automobiles, and World War II vehicles, before ceasing operations in 1950.
Michigan Historical Commission ~ Michigan Historical Center
Registered Local Site No. XXXX
This Marker is the Property of the State of Michigan, 2007
Text authored by Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock and Laura Ashlee