The Henry Ford, Museum and Greenfield Village Reviews (Dearborn, Michigan)

The Most Amazing Place

Portland, Connecticut

November 20, 2009

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Best of IgoUgo When I tell you that we were blown away by Greenfield Village I am not exaggerating. I was absolutely in awe of the buildings that Henry Ford managed to acquire. Before I tell you all about the wonderful things we saw I will give you a few general ...Read more When I tell you that we were blown away by Greenfield Village I am not exaggerating. I was absolutely in awe of the buildings that Henry Ford managed to acquire. Before I tell you all about the wonderful things we saw I will give you a few general tips.

First if you are going to go to the Henry Ford Museum, buy a combination ticket. It will save you from paying the $5 parking fee twice. Even if you come on two separate days, which by the way I highly recommend you will only pay one parking fee. Second but the transportation bracelet, it is so worth it. For $10 additional you get to ride on the train, the Model T Fords, The Omnibus, the Old Fashioned bus and the merry-go-round as many times as you would like.

As soon as we came through the gates we bought our bracelet and hopped on the train, somehow it seemed like the perfect thing to do. There is a conductor/guide on board who will give you a tour of sorts. Our was a female whose name I have forgotten but she told us to sit in the first seat because it was quite brisk out and there is a shield that will protect you from the worst of the wind if you are in the first seat, the cars are open to the air.

You get a good overview of the village on the train and it takes I guess about 45 minutes to make the round. There are several other stops along the way so you can choose to get off.

What you will learn is that Greenfield Village was designed to be a live classroom for the school that is still on the property. If these students couldn’t go where the history was, history was brought to them. Pretty amazing really, it is like an outdoor Smithsonian.
Okay why should you come all the way to Dearborn Michigan to see Greenfield Village? Where else can you walk into a courthouse where Abraham Lincoln actually argued cases and see a cabinet that he and his father made? Where else can you tour Robert Frost’s House, Noah Webster’s House and the Wright Brother’s Shop and Home? These are just the tip of the iceberg. The original ford family home is here as is the firestone farm, slaves cabins from a southern plantation, a very early Cape Code windmill and a 17th century Connecticut farmhouse. These and much, much more will give you a day or more of entertainment, it certainly did for us.

We had lunch at the Eagle Tavern which I wrote about in another review, it is a 19th century stage coaching house and offers a very authentic menu and atmosphere.

We loved riding in the Model T around the village and yes we did take a carousel ride too. We rode everything our ticket covered at least once.

There is a large and very well stocked gift shop as well so if you are looking for a souvenir of your visit, there are plenty to be had.
We loved Greenfield Village and for the life of us we can’t imagine why we have never heard about it. It has to be the best kept secret in the country.
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From journal Adventures in Michigan

An Amazing Museum

by zabelle

Portland, Connecticut

November 18, 2009

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Best of IgoUgo When it comes to amazing museums I am hard pressed o come up with even one that can compare with the Ford Museum. I have been to the Smithsonian Museum and yes they have a great collection but we were speechless by the depth of the collection here ...Read more
When it comes to amazing museums I am hard pressed o come up with even one that can compare with the Ford Museum. I have been to the Smithsonian Museum and yes they have a great collection but we were speechless by the depth of the collection here in Dearborn. I bet you are doubtful, but wait just let me give you a sample of what you will find here.

First I have to tell you that you should buy a combination ticket. You can combine the Ford Museum with Greenfield Village and you will want to do both. The combination ticket allows you to do it on different days because it is way too ambitious to try to do both of them in one day. It costs to park here, that is my one gripe with them, can you imagine given the price of your ticket which is not inconsiderable, you have to pay an addition $5 to park in an outdoor parking lot. The good news is you only have to pay it one day if you buy the combination ticket, if you buy separate tickets it is going to cost you twice.

This is a really big museum with high ceilings like a warehouse and stuff as far as the eye can see. AL and Joe and I were just in awe right from the first view. I am going to say that it is confusing and you will be glad for your map, it is just so big. When you consider that there is a plane, a train and farm equipment that stands 20 feet tall you get a small idea of how large it is.
We walked into the history section without any idea of what was here. I hate to admit it but I didn’t do much research. I thought there would be a lot of cars and there are lots of cars but beyond that I had no idea.

Our first clue was when we peaked into a room and a guide said ‘Would you like to sit in Rosa Parks’s seat? Sit in her seat, well yes the bus she was on in Birmingham is here and yes we did sit in her seat, talk about being a part of history.
2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and this year we visited his birthplace, his child home and here we saw the chair he was sitting at in Ford’s Theatre when he was shot, and yes the blood stains are still visible. There are 5 presidential limousines here including the one that John Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated.

It isn’t all about death either, Mark Twain’s desk from Hartford where he wrote some of his best novels is here along with George Washington’s camp bed and Benedict Arnold’s letter proving that he was a traitor. I could go on and on. We were stunned.
It can take hours to tour here and you will get hungry. They have a very nice cafeteria with very good food and of course there is a huge gift shop. If you are taking the Ford Rouge Tour it starts from the museum and you need to buy a timed ticket.

I rate this museum and 5/5 and I hope to be able to return here again to see all the things I am sure that I missed.
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From journal Adventures in Michigan

Watchng the Ford F-150 Being Produced

by zabelle

Portland, Connecticut

October 10, 2009

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Best of IgoUgo Having arrived at the Henry Ford Museum we knew that part of what we wanted to do was to take Al on the Ford Factory Tour. The Ford Rouge Center is a historic plant that also includes a visitor center that will get you up to speed on the history of ...Read more Having arrived at the Henry Ford Museum we knew that part of what we wanted to do was to take Al on the Ford Factory Tour. The Ford Rouge Center is a historic plant that also includes a visitor center that will get you up to speed on the history of Ford Motor Company and in particular the Rouge Ford Plant.

For some reason the three of us paid only $23 for our three tickers. The going price is $15 for adults. We were 2 seniors and an adult, the price makes no sense but none the less that is what we paid. The buses between the Henry Ford Museum and the Rouge Center run every half hour so plan your trip accordingly. Your ticket is a timed ticket so you need to be on the right bus.

The plant is about 5 miles or so away and the bus ride is maybe 10 minutes. During the trip Bill Ford the former CEO of Ford Motor introduces you to the plant and the company philosophy. When you get off the bus the center is right there and you head inside.

The areas in the center are numbers. Section one is a film that lasts about 15 minutes and gives you the history of the Ford Motor Company, the union and the factory and its workers. It is a fascinating lesson in 20th century history. Section two is another film but this one is shown on 7 screens and you get to feel, smell and hear what the production was and is like. The heat from the furnaces as they smelt the ore was quite intense. The kids will love this and actually Joe, Al and I did too.

From here you take an elevator to the observation deck where you find out about the green things that Ford is doing. This for me was the most boring part and I was glad to get out , though the view of the entire Rouge complex is quite nice.

Now you are ready for part four and the factory tour. When we arrived they were on break on we had to wait ten minutes for production to start. The walk around the cat walk is half a mile so if you have trouble walking you may just want to stand still and watch the consoles being installed , that is what the first stop is.

For me the most amazing part was the two parts of the truck being put together, to watch the cab and the bed meet, it is all computerized and on a conveyer but it was always right, no red beds getting attached to black beds atc.

After you finish this part you go back down stairs and you can visit their Legacy auto collection. Be prepared to be wowed by the Thunderbird. It is the kind that Al has always dreamed of owning. We all had a great time on this tour and it is certainly something I would highly recommend. Close

From journal Adventures in Michigan

Henry Ford Museum

by RoBoNC

Indianapolis, Indiana

March 20, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo The River Rouge Plant, or commonly referred to as The Rouge, is Ford's largest automobile factor as well as the largest integrated factory in the world. The Rouge was built in 1928 and is 1.5 miles wide by 1 mile long. The complex includes the ...Read more The River Rouge Plant, or commonly referred to as The Rouge, is Ford's largest automobile factor as well as the largest integrated factory in the world. The Rouge was built in 1928 and is 1.5 miles wide by 1 mile long. The complex includes the Rouge Plant along with 93 other buildings for a total of 16 million square feet of factory floor space. The factory has its own docks on the Rouge River, 100 miles of interior railroad tracks, as well as its own electricty plant and ore processing facility. The Rouge was instrumental in building the Ford Model A, the first vehicle built in the facility. It later went on to produce the Mercury, Thunderbird, and four decades of the Mustang. Today the Rouge produces the Ford F-150 and the Lincoln Mark LT pickup trucks.

Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, located a few miles south, is the world headquarters for Ford and the hometown of its most famous citizen, Henry Ford. In conjunction with the Henry Ford Museum, visitors are allowed to tour the Rouge plant. The tour departs from the Henry Ford Museum where visitors board a bus that will take them to the plant. Tours are offered Monday thru Saturday from 9:30 to 5:00 with the last tour departing at 3:00. The tours have been known to sell out, so reservations are recommended. Tickets can be bought online or at the museum. If you want to see the production line in action, it is recommended that you go during the week. Non-production times are usually on the weekends, holidays, and the first two weeks in July.

The tour actually consists of five parts. It is about a fifteen minute bus ride from the museum to the Rouge plant. The first stop is Legacy Theater where visitors are treated to a thirteen minute presentation on the history of Ford and the Rouge facility. From there is the Art of Manufacturing Theater which is a multisensory presentation on how vehicles are made. After taking your seats, a mutimedia presentation is shown documenting how vehicles go from a coil of steel to the final product. What is amazing about this presentation is you literally feel like you are there. Depending on where you are in the film, your body will go from hot to cold tempeature changes, the smell of paint, glue, and other products used in the production is pumped into the room, giving you a glimpse of what it is like to be on the production line.

After exiting the video, visitors are taken to the observation deck 80 feet above the visitor's center to view one of Ford's greatest innovations, their living roof. The roof above the Rouge plant is 10.4 acres, but through science and technology, it has been converted into a living garden. The roof's primary function is to collect and filter rainwater which reduces the amount of storm water flowing into the River Rouge. The roof is layered with a sedum which is a drought resistent periennal groundcover. The purpose is to reduce the heat that is given off by paved surfaces, but more importantly is insulates the building reducing their heating and cooling costs by five percent. The roof is expected to last longer than conventional roofs thereby saving millions of dollars.

The major part of the tour is the elevated walkway which looks down on the production floor below. The walkway is a 1/3 of a mile long with interactive displays along the way. Although I went when on a non-production day, it was still amazing to see the different areas and the partially assembled F-150's on the line. As you walked along the walkway, the vehicles went from a chassis to the windshield department, then dash installation, door attachment, and the many other areas that it takes to build a vehicle. The walkway takes you by the paint department and then onto quality control. It is here after the vehicle is assembled, that it is put through a series of tests to see that everything has been assembled correctly as well as put through a major car wash to make sure that the vehicle has no leaks. The vehicle is then taken outside for a road test before loaded onto railroad cars to be shipped around the country. This section of the tour is self-guided and lasts between 30-45 minutes. There is no time limit though and when you are finished just head back to the bus stop for the ride back over to the museum.

The last part of the tour is the Legacy Gallery displaying historic Ford models such as the Mustang, Model T, and numerous others. This is a great place to browse and kill some time while waiting for the bus to arrive.
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From journal Father & Son Trip to the Northeast Part 2

Greenfield Village

by catronma

Nixa, Missouri

January 17, 2007

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Please take my advice and do this in the warmer months! While this is a very nice place in around Christmas time it is COLD! And given that many of the buildings are still in their original state there is no heat or they are very drafty. This is a ...Read more

From journal Hometown Tourist

Greenfield Village

by MJB1103

Madison Heights, Michigan

September 7, 2005

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Best of IgoUgo Greenfield Village is a step back in time to the days of Henry Ford, George Washington Carver, the Wright Brothers, and the like. There are old houses, log cabins, laboratories, stores, and farms. The buildings all have items from the era on ...Read more

From journal Around Detroit: Eating, Drinking, and Things To Do

IMAX Theater

by MJB1103

Madison Heights, Michigan

September 7, 2005

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The IMAX is located on the grounds of the Greenfield Village, next to the Henry Ford Museum. Adult tickets range from $10 for a traditional IMAX film to $11.75 for a feature-length film. The website is www.hfmgv.org. This will give you the complete ...Read more

From journal Around Detroit: Eating, Drinking, and Things To Do

Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum

by Betty Viaggiatrice

London, United Kingdom

December 30, 2003

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Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum look at industrial history. Greenfield Village includes loads of interesting buildings (although I haven't been in about 20 years). The Henry Ford Museum obviously has tons of history about cars, but ...Read more

From journal Stuff to do in Detroit City

Greenfield Village

by Binky

Troy, Michigan

May 9, 2001

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Best of IgoUgo Greenfield Village is, in my opinion, the best tourist attraction in Metro Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford (who was probably a little crazy) way back in 1929. It is a collection of historic American buildings which have all been moved here. My ...Read more

From journal Say Nice Things About Detroit

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