P7932

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Details

ID Number

P7932

Item Name

image

Title

Ford Power Plant addition excavation / Excavation pour l'annexe à la centrale électrique Ford

Title (Fre)

Excavation pour l'annexe à la centrale électrique Ford

Date

1950/12/05

Description

An exterior view of the Ford Power Plant on Riverside Dr. E., during initial site excavation for the proposed plant expansion; a large crane moves building materials or refuse out of the way, as construction employees clear the sit; the foundations of the original plant are exposed.

History

The Ford Motor Company was established in Canada in 1904 when a group of Windsor businessmen began negotiations with a struggling Detroit inventor named Henry Ford. Ford's first plant was located in the former plant of the Walkerville Wagon Works, which overlooked the Detroit River. Location was key as the cars were assembled one by one as parts were ferried by wagonload across the river. The first car built in Canada was the Model C. 1904 - 1905, the first year of operations, the company employed 16 men and turned out 114 automobiles. Ford extended capacity in 1910 by building a three-storey automobile plant on Sandwich St., close to the company's first building. In 1911 a reinforced building of four floors was erected containing 60,000 feet of floor space. Many parts factories sprang up to supply the demands, which grew out of the automobile industry. In 1913, assembly line techniques and moving conveyors were introduced and by 1914 the company was producing 14,500 units per year. In 1915, Ford introduced the "Four Dollar a Day" plan over a six-day, eight-hour workweek. The municipality of Ford City grew around the Ford plant. Ford City became a village in 1913, a town in 1915 and became the City of East Windsor on June 1, 1929. Expansion of the Ford Motor Company continued during the 1920s and was a major factor of the city's development. By the summer of 1928, the company employed 8000 men and an output of 500 cars per day was predicted for 1929. When war was declared in 1939, all resources and facilities of Ford of Canada were committed to serving the war effort. The Windsor plant was retooled for the construction of war vehicles and produced 8000 Universal Carriers, a half-auto, half-tank vehicle, in just over two years. By April of 1945, Ford of Canada had supplied the armed forces with 380,000 motor vehicles valued at more than $650,000,000. In 1954, Ford of Canada's Head Office was relocated to Oakville, Ontario in order to be closer to the major population centres of the nation. Today, Ford of Canada assembles cars and trucks at two plants in Oakville and one near St. Thomas. It produces engines, aluminum engine parts and iron castings at five plants in Windsor. The Company's cast aluminum research and development facility is also located in Windsor. Its operations employ approximately 17,000 people across Canada.

Place made

Canada - Ontario - Windsor

Collection Name

Museum Windsor

Subjects

Automobile industry / Industrie de l'automobile

Building materials / Matériaux de construction

Construction workers / Travailleur de construction

East Windsor (Ont.) / Windsor Est (Ont.)

Excavation

Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd. / Ford du Canada ltée

Ford Power Plant / Centrale électrique Ford

Foundations / Fondations

Hoisting machinery / Grues

Machinery / Machinerie

Power plants / Centrales électriques

Progress photographs / Photographies Progress

Riverside Dr. E. / Promenade Riverside Est