Greenfield Village - Part of Henry Ford's Legacy

By noon we were entering Greenfield Village which is part of The Henry Ford, the largest indoor-outdoor museum complex in America. Nearly one hundred historical buildings were moved to the property from their original locations and arranged in a "village setting". Many of them are staffed by costumed interpreters who conduct period tasks, like farming, sewing and cooking, or just give a brief presentation about the building. We bought a day pass for the transportation system that included horse-drawn omnibus, steam locomotive, a 1931 Model AA bus and authentic Model Ts.

The buildings include: the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law in Logan County, Illinois; Luther Burbank's office; the Wright brothers' bicycle shop and home from Dayton, Ohio; Henry Ford's birthplace and the garage where he built the quadricycle; Noah Webster's Connecticut home; and Thomas Edison's laboratory from Fort Myers, Florida. Interesting in that we saw Thomas Edison's lab in Fort Myers. Was it recreated? One of the staff said that some cities did recreate buildings when they realized what a tourist attraction they could be. Hmmm.



We talked to a volunteer in the chapel that Mr. Ford had built on the site in 1929 and named for his mother and mother-in-law. It was used as the chapel for the school Mr. Ford operated on the property that closed in the 1960s.. The volunteer said that Mr. Ford would greet the children most mornings and stay for the chapel service. The volunteer had 2 daughters who attended the school in the 1960s and he and his wife were married here. He and his wife volunteer one day a week in the Village. There currently is an Academy on the grounds that draws students from the county.















The transportation system is so authentic that when one of the Model T's had a flat tire, an old Ford tow truck came out to take it to the shop. The driver had to operate a hand crank to raise the front of the Model T.





We really enjoyed our ride on the steam train. Later we went to the roundhouse where I took the opportunity to see how easy it is to turn. Tons and tons that are so well balanced it just takes a little pressure to move it around. This was moved here from Petosky, Michigan after Mr. Ford's death, but he was involved in the acquisition of many of the buildings.

It was a lovely day. Weather was almost perfect. And when 5 p.m. came, I wasn't ready to leave, although John was getting pretty tired, and they were closing so we left.