Ford wood parts factory

[ModelAkid]

I found this book about the history of Ford in Kingsford/Iron Mountain (Upper Peninsula) Michigan, where Ford apparently made most of the wood body parts that went into his cars, trucks and station wagons. In one of the captions it mentions the wood is maple. Ford was once the largest landowner in the area, owning many sections (640 ac. each) of woodland. The predominant hardwood in that area is maple, with birch being second.
This is an outstanding collection of historical photos. It is hard to believe it is all gone now. The last remaining part was the twin smokestacks which were demolished in 2003.
http://www.dcl-lib.org/images/files/Gen ... 0Plant.pdf
Henry did not waste ANYTHING at this factory.

[spectria]

I found this book about the history of Ford in Kingsford/Iron Mountain (Upper Peninsula) Michigan, where Ford apparently made most of the wood body parts that went into his cars, trucks and station wagons. In one of the captions it mentions the wood is maple. Ford was once the largest landowner in the area, owning many sections (640 ac. each) of woodland. The predominant hardwood in that area is maple, with birch being second.
This is an outstanding collection of historical photos. It is hard to believe it is all gone now. The last remaining part was the twin smokestacks which were demolished in 2003.
http://www.dcl-lib.org/images/files/Gen ... 0Plant.pdf
Henry did not waste ANYTHING at this factory.

Awesome history, Thank You Curt!!!

[tomkline]

Very interesting, thank you for sharing.

[gunmetal 2]

Thank You ModelAkid for shearing that with us. Its another part of history most people don't know about.

[ModelAkid]

Regarding wood species used: They might also have used elm. I am very familiar with this area because I have relatives around there. Elm was also a common hardwood until about 30 years ago when Dutch Elm Disease reached Upper Michigan and killed all of them.

[KimVanOrder]

I also heard that was where "Kingsford Charcoal" began. Used the scraps I guess.

[tiredtruckrestorer]

I believe Kingsford was a relative of Ford, thinking a cousin on his wife's side (?). A Ford sold accessory was a small charcoal grill with Kingsfords charcoal.

Keith

[ModelAkid]

The Ford Charcoal operation, later to be renamed Kingsford Charcoal, was an integral part of the Ford parts factory as shown in the many photos and descriptions.
I have a friend with a '50 Ford woody wagon and he was very interested to see where the body of his car was made.

[SHELBY MESSER]

I read in one of the articles That Ford had a lot of acreage of maple trees. So this might solve the the problem of what type wood that the floor boards were made of in the model 'A'. Most of us speculated that they were made of maple. I would suppose all native maple trees has the same characteristic in all parts of the country. The rummer of using engine crates may be very true Shelby, Louisiana.