Thursday, September 13, 2018

Fairlane Connection



From sometime in the 1920's unitil Henry Ford died on April 7, 1947 my great grandfather worked in the powerhouse at the Fairlane estate.  The river overflowed that night, flooding out the power plant that Thomas Edison had helped install.  The estate was switched to the main power lines, and the power plant never brought back online.  

I have mixed feelings about Henry Ford.  He was a talented industrialist, who cared about his workers, a pioneer in a living wage.  He was a collector, who preserved a ton of American history.  He was also virulently anti semitic, opposed to organized labor - my grandfather was at the Rouge plant when Fords thugs opened fire.  He was a brilliant if flawed person.  

I had never seen Fairlane, on my most recent adventure I stumbled across the sign and turned. The buildings are currently closed for renovation, but the grounds were largely open.  I walked the places my great grandfather did, the power house was in the back of the building that housed the garage.  

I have owned a lot of cars, never a Ford, have you? 

6 comments:

  1. We had two different Ford Explorers in the ‘90s. The only American cars we’ve ever owned ... and we were very happy with them.

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  2. my first car was a 1972 ford pinto. my parental units bought it for me for a high school graduation present. they wanted me to die in an explosion.

    then a pontiac, then a chevy, then 2 hyundais, now a kia.

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    1. ka-BOOM !!! lol!

      Thank god for Ralph Nader...oh wait, that was the Corvair

      :-)

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  3. Two--one I leased in the early 80s (can't remember the model, but it was a red sedan that later oxidized). The other was a new Ford Fiesta that I bought in Germany to have to drive while I was teaching there for two years. It was bare-bones--no AC, no radio, standard transmission. I just wanted a car that would cause me no trouble. Those were the only two American cars I ever owned--the rest were Mazdas, Toyotas, and Hondas.

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  4. All of our big trucks were/are Found On Road Deads as a friend used to call them. Balder Half preferred Chevys in cars. Now we have a Ford 250, a Honda civic (I think), my Buick Le Sabre and a Dodge Caravan (the wheelchair chariot). That's a lot of vehicles for two people!

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  5. No Fords...an old Cadillac, a Chevy Chevelle Mailibu, a Honda 350 motorcycle, a Datsun pick-up, a Volvo station wagon, a Toyota Celica, Camry, two Landcruisers, a Honda Civic, and a Chevy Sonic (I should have gotten another Honda or Toyota!)

    :-)

    -Andy

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