Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant

In 1832, Calvin Swain purchased the land at this location along the River Raisin. Some time after that, he established a gristmill at the site.{{cite web | title = Henry Ford's Village Industries, Brooklyn Mill | author = Ren Farley | date = August 2010 | publisher = Detroit1701 | url = http://www.detroit1701.org/Ford%20Brooklyn%20Mill.html| accessdate = February 28, 2019}} The Brooklyn mill burned down in about 1912.{{citation | title = Henry Ford's Village Industries | author = Ted L. Ligibel | periodical = Impressions | publisher = Washtenaw County Historical Society | date = January 2000 | url = http://impressions.washtenawhistory.org/impressions_200002o.pdf}} Henry Ford purchased the property in 1921, but did not use it for some time. In 1938,{{cite news | title = From sawmill to Old Irish Mill, here are tenants of historic Brooklyn site | author = Taylor DesOrmeau | newspaper =MLive | url = https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2016/11/from_brooklyns_original_sawmil.html }} he constructed a new building constructed on the site, and the plant opened in 1939. It employed up to 130 people making workers horn buttons and starter switches. During World War II, production shifted to brass spark plug bushings for B-24 bombers. After the war, the line returned to making horn buttons and starter switches until 1954, when production shifted to armrests and lamp lenses.{{citation | title = Recasting the machine age: Henry Ford's village industries|authorlink=Howard P. Segal| author = Howard P. Segal | chapter = Appendix: Basic Facts About and Present Status of the Nineteen Village Industries | publisher = Univ of Massachusetts Press | year = 2005 | isbn = 1-55849-481-2 |pages = 161–166 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=thwsXujmKEYC&pg=PA161}}

The Brooklyn site closed in 1967. After it was closed, the building was owned by Industrial Automotive Products, a subsidiary of Jackson Gear. The building has been recently used to house a collector's Model T collection, then housed an alternative fuel research company. The building was purchased by Daniel and Samantha Ross in 2014 and is being converted into an Irish themed destination called the Old Irish Mill.{{cite news | title = Former Ford plant in Brooklyn to be transformed into authentic Irish culinary, recreation destination | author = Tarryl Jackson | date = February 22, 2014 | newspaper = MLive | url = https://www.mlive.com/business/jackson-lansing/2014/02/former_ford_plant_in_brooklyn.html}} However, funding fell through in 2018.{{cite news | title = Banks turn down $10 million Old Irish Mill, developer alters approach | author = Taylor DesOrmeau | newspaper = MLive | date = January 18, 2018 | url = https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2018/01/banks_turn_down_10_million_old.html}}

The Brooklyn plant is a Moderne style red brick plant with large windows.{{cite web | title = Ford Motor Company Brooklyn Plant: A "Village Industry" Success Story | author = Jackson County Michigan Historical Society | url = https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=210618}}

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{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan}}

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Jackson County, Michigan

Category:Ford village industries