History Henry Ford Museum / Greenfield Village, etc.

Happy to see they move the Weinermobile far away from the chair that Abe Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot. (Also hope they moved the chair to a more appropriate spot, rather than next to the hotdog stand.) The Goldenrod sure looks nice now that it's restored, great place to have it. Looked pretty rough outside the NHRA Museum a few years ago.

 

<TABLE id=Table8 height=76 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR height=39><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=296 align=left border=0 NOF="TE"><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE id=Table9 height=27 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top height=25><TD>Perhaps on your way or return see this.
Hickory Corners is quite close to your home and has a pretty cool museum.
http://www.gilmorecarmuseum.org/
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"RELIX RIOT - Traditional Hot Rods, Customs and Pre-1965 Motorcycles Show"<!-- ~~ -->​

</TD></TR><TR height=25><TD>September 26th 2010 ( Sunday )<!-- ~~ --> | 9:00 pm - 6:00pm<!-- ~~ -->

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2nd Annual
RELIX RIOT
9 am - 6 pm​

Join us for the 2nd Annual "Traditional Hot Rods, Customs and Pre-1965 Motorcycles Show" on Sunday September 26, 2010.​

New registration flyer coming soon!
Click here for a 2009 flyer.​

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Here's some pictures I found on the net of the old Ford Rotunda Building.....

 

What timing...I plan to be at the Henry Ford museum next Friday, spend the night and then the Dream Cruise the next day...can't wait!

HRJ

 

I plan on being at the Woodward Cruise that whole week! Man, I hope I don't get "baked" like last year..

 

There is the Buick Museum in Flint. I think it's part of the Sloan Museum, you can call them for all the info, but the Buick stuff is pretty cool!

 

Holy cow, now I have so much research to do I don't know if I'll even get done before I leave! Great suggestions one and all! looks like I'm going to wear out Google maps and my AAA card. Maybe we better stay up there a couple of weeks?? Now I must go. So many pictures....so little time.

 

Can you make it up here for the 21st of this month??? Last day of the cruise!! I'm sure there will be a car show Sunday on the 22nd for the diehard fans... That will be on the corner of 13 Mile Rd. and Woodward Ave. if it's still nice out.

 

Great information! We'll be at the Woodward Ave Cruise, HF Museum, and Flint car show. Flint is my wife's home town.

 

I found this pic of the man on the net....

 

Here's some more cool stuff to read and look at.. Enjoy! http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/ford.htm and.... http://www.pbase.com/papajim_48306/the_henry_ford_museum

 

Well I called the Dearborn Inn to see what Sundays in Sept they were having their Sunday bunch. Guess what? THIS Sunday is their very last one. They are closing the resturant, remodeling and will open up as a regualr breakfast, lunch, dinner place.

On a happier note since this is the last bunch I've got reservations for this Sundays event.

 

You won't be far from the Yipsilanti Orphan Car Museum in Yipsilanti, MI. Jack Miller is the curator. Hemming Classic Car Magazine did an article about him in their last issue. Last summer when I was in Michigan, I visited the Chrysler Museum, The Henry Ford Museum and the Yipsilanti Museum. We worth the visit.

 

Well there goes that child hood memory!!!! Let me just say I'm jealous, and my mom and I may show up and pose as you to get in.

 

i was born in detroit. the henry ford museum and greenfield village are the gems of the area. the village has some amazing cars, trucks, trains et... it would take you a week or more to fully explore.

 

Your Mother is more then welcome to join us. You on the other hand would need to shave and wear a skirt if you wanted to join us as we're (my group)doing a "Ladies Only Luncheon".

 

DEAL!!!! haha.

 

If you are coming in September - Greenfield Village @ Henry Ford is hosting the "Old Car Festival" around September 11-12.
http://www.thehenryford.com/events/oldCarFestival.aspx

I've gone a few years and it's tremendous! All the cars drive around the village like it's an old city (it is actually I suppose). Make your weekend that one and I assure you that you won't be dissappointed. Cool thing is, everything else in the village remains open so the whole family can enjoy. 1000% happiness.

-Chad

 

So, are we going to do this or what??? I'm game!

 

I had to go to Livonia Michigan for buisness so we made a family vacation out of my business trip. I took my girls to greenfield village and one day was not enough we stayed at the Hampton Inn of Dearborn it was fun for my wife too. The glass blowers and the T Model rides are neat . Make sure to park close to the entrance if you can some local crack heads broke the door glasses out of my new truck in the parking lot !!That was day one the next day we went to the museum it was awesome!! we wished we had one more day!!

 

About that red GT40 a couple of posts ago...My son said it's not there now, he was just there in July. That's the car that Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt won Lemans with, in 66 or 67, forget which. That was the year that Gurney was given the bottle of champange in the winners circle, and instead of sipping it like well mannered europeans did, he shook it and sprayed the crowd. Spraying the crowd with champange started right there. Gurney still has the bottle. The story of that car is interesting, involves Ford and Ferrari egos, and lot's of money.

 

I&#8217;ve been meaning to post this for a few days as a follow up on our trip to Dearborn / Detroit. First off I want to thank the several people who wrote me and offered to show us around. The couple that went with us ended up having an acquaintance in the area, and that poor guy got guide duty for a while.
This may end up sounding like it was written by the Dearborn chamber of commerce, so I apologize in advance if it does; but here goes.


For those that already live close to the Henry Ford-Greenfield Village you have a priceless jewel in your backyard. For those who have always wanted to go, don&#8217;t put it off any longer. I did for years and I could kick myself.
The museum is about 12 acres under one roof and includes something for everyone. From the earliest days of water and steam power to aircraft, trains and cars. The museum building itself is a work of art, let alone the 12 MILLION items housed inside. We got there bright and early Monday and were absolutely the last ones out the door that evening. Same thing happened the next day at the Village. Only 80 ACRES to that part! Some really significant buildings in that little village to. I didn&#8217;t know they were just about ALL the real deal. I always thought it was a &#8216;reproduction&#8217; small town. Most of the structures are the actual buildings moved to Greenfield by Henry Ford. He really had an eye for what would be historically significant some day. Edison&#8217;s&#8217; Minlo Park, NJ lab (still on NJ soil), the Wright brothers home and shop, etc.
As far as my wife being bored, that never happened. I had told her for years what a busy guy Henry Ford was, but she just figured I said that because I&#8217;m a &#8220;car guy&#8221;. After walking through the museum and village for 2 days she found herself in awe of his many achievements. You just wanted to stop about every half hour and say 'Thank you Henry Ford&#8217;.

I work in a power plant and have always been interested in steam power and big machinery, so a couple of things not to miss, although it would be hard to&#8230;..
The 600 ton Allegheny locomotive. That is one massive hunk of steam motivated iron.
The 6000 HP 4000 Kw, Highland park - Gas/ Steam engine that defies description. (a variation of the Corliss engine) Must be seen to believe that ol Henry had 9 of these 750 ton monsters powering the Highland Park plant. Absolutely the most mammoth &#8216;engine&#8217; you will ever see. And built in 1915 to boot. We couldn't even cast something this big today.
Like I told a friend. This museum encompasses everything that made this country so great. Where we made things that had never been made and did things that had never been done. And this is where it&#8217;s all on display.
Later in the week we did the Rouge Plant tour which was also fantastic, even though you can only tour the final assembly section of the plant. Then we toured &#8216;Fairlane&#8217;, Henry&#8217;s little house on the river bank of the Rouge. Very nice little place. Too bad the power plant area was closed for HVAC repairs. This attraction will be closed in December for up to 4 years, so if you want to go do it soon. I was told it&#8217;s changing hands, back from the U of Mich. to the Ford Foundation and it needs some renovation work done after nearly 100 years.
Lastly we went up to Auburn Hills and toured the Walter P. Chrysler museum. Really nice building and campus up there. Great museum with lots of Chrysler/Hudson/AMC/Jeep history to.

I've got some more info on these engines that I got from the Benson Ford Research center while I was there. I'll include that once I scan it. Pretty interesting reading...


<o>
Later, Phil

 

The little engine that could. Wow


Biggest "engine" I ever saw. The Hooven, Owens, Rentschler.
This only shows about a fourth of it.
You can't back up far enough to get the whole thing in one frame.






GENERATOR-


Up on operating floor, between the cylinders.

 

We always go to the Henry Ford when we're there for the Autorama. Another place we don't miss is Hitsville,U.S.A. The story of Barry Gordy is what America is all about. I know Detroit is falling apart,but I love it anyway.

 

I did a whole story on the Henry Ford, with lots of pictures and everything. This seems like a good place to share it.

http://www.hovermotorco.com/2010/08/henry-ford-museum-claims-to-be-americas.html

And yeah, if you can go there, you really should!

 

If you grew up in the Detroit area, you generally always did several school field trips to both the village and museum through the years. The restoration/renovation of the village took place during the winter of 2002. I was the Civil engineer for the project, one that will always be at the top of my list of best projects. A number of buildings were moved, the pond was added in the crafts area. The under ground utilities were a mess, just patched together through the years. Everything is new underground along with fire alarm and theft systems. We crawled around in all the nooks and crannies of the buildings determining what was feeding into them, seen some interesting spaces. Henry Ford's biggest financial mistake was not setting aside a trust fund for the museum and village, it was still part of Ford Motor Company at his death. It was separated from the company, and has struggled through ups and downs for funds.

 

Just ran across this video of Henry leading a tour thru the powerhouse at Highland Park in 1919. No sound, but at least you can see that big thing in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIVEKxKDexU

 

Did you get yourself a little hot plastic Henry?

I can't wait to get back there.