NORTHVILLIANS,

You may remember from a couple weeks back, we spoke about the Vagabonds group (Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs) and their trips to Northville. Henry brought them to our town to see his first Village Industries workshop where he built all the valves for his Ford engines along the riverbanks.

Hydro-electric plants on this waterway from Northville to Dearborn were called “Village Industry Workshops,” which is today’s history topic. Most of these started as gristmills in the late 1800’s and were purchased by Ford in the 1920’s. The Northville Plant was the first in operation in 1920. The last of these Village Industry locations finished production in the 1980’s.

Let’s look at what’s coming up soon:

• April 6^th – Turnbull Mayoral Town Hall (7:00 PM), Live (in-person) and also streamed online.  Topic: State of the Community and Q & A. The Northville Township team offered their modern hybrid facility (Township Hall at Six Mile & Sheldon). Attend live, or click on the following link: https://smart.newrow.com/#/room/fga-386
   
• April 13^th – Join the Northville Chamber of Commerce for the annual State of the Community Luncheon. Speakers include Mary Kay Gallagher, Superintendent Northville Public Schools, Mark Abbo, Northville Township Supervisor and me, Northville Mayor. Click on the box below to register.   
   
                                        
  
  Nominations for Northville Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year
• Each year, the Northville Chamber of Commerce celebrates community members that give their time, energy, and talent to make Northville a special place to live, work and play. Since 2014, this Award has been designated the “John Genitti Citizen of the Year Award”. If you wish to nominate a deserving individual, please go online here. Nomination deadline: March 28, 2022.
  
  Downtown Social District Update
• On St. Patrick’s Day, hundreds of school children who were off experienced a beautiful day gathering in the downtown Social District. Later that afternoon, adults and families enjoyed many things: Irish dancers performing at 7 locations in town, multiple bands livening up the town and plenty of traditional Irish culinary surprises at the Restaurants.
• Spring is coming – stay tuned for the future schedule of weekend music in the streets and events in the downtown. Then get ready for summer!
• The City Council previously approved the downtown streets to be part of a Social District until Nov 1^st, as was recommended by the Downtown Development Authority. The Council has monitored this situation closely. Surveys will be out shortly with various future options to gain your insights of street usage. More to come.
  
  Northville Development Update
• The Northville Planning Commission held a public hearing March 15^th for the potential Planned Unit Development (PUD) at Northville Downs to collect comments on the preliminary site plan proposal.
• The Planning Commission will start reviewing the site plan in detail at upcoming meetings beginning April 5^th, and public comment will continue to be welcomed going forward. The process will provide many opportunities for citizen input.  For additional info on the Downs site plan, click on www.northvilledowns.info.
• Also, the Foundry Flask Development (80 Apartments) on East Cady in the Beal Town area has gone through their final site plan approval process.
• These developments could potentially be partners in our Rouge Restoration & Riverwalk initiative, with an opportunity to daylight the river currently entombed under the Downs and provide a pathway system for connectivity of city, county, and state parks. Northville is the juncture of waterways from 4 counties. These river trails and pathways will join citizens in southeastern Michigan together. Remember, everything is “Down River” from Northville, which is the highest point in Wayne County.
  
  Best Places to Live in Michigan – Northville Rocks!
  Niche Rankings has released their annual Best Places to Live in Michigan list. The City of Northville ranked #9!  If you didn’t know, Michigan has 533 municipalities, so that’s pretty impressive. For those wondering, Okemos was #1.
  
  Covid-19 Confirmed Cases: 
  Northville has had 704 cases/6 fatalities, Township 5754/79, Michigan 2.4M/35K, Nation 80M/972K, Global 471M/6.1M. (CDC.com)

Now let's look at some of Henry Ford's Village Industry activities along the Rouge River. 
(Info from The Northville Record, personal resources and The Henry Ford Museum archives.)

THE BEGINNING: Ford started 20 village industry operations between 1919-1944. The purchase of old mills was part of his vision of community-oriented workplaces. Ford’s hydroelectric-driven factories were thought to have been encouraged by Thomas Edison (who he worked for at one time). 
The Centennial Edition of The Northville Record (1969) reported on Ford’s Hydroelectric plants from Northville to Dearborn.  Some excerpts are from this publication.

The Northville Valve Plant (in Town):

• The original building bought by Henry Ford was a mill built around 1825 by the Yerkes Family (the first building in Northville).
• In 1896, a wood-working shop operated by the Dubuar Manufacturing Company was built in this area and produced wheelbarrows, pulley blocks and other wood products.
• In 1919, Henry bought the location.  Valve-making machinery for the Fordson Tractor and Model T were brought to Northville for use in the plant.
• By 1936, a more modern plant was needed, and an Albert Kahn-designed plant was built. The plant was closed in the 1980’s.
• Over the years, hundreds of millions of valves were produced here.
• Output: The plant started with Model T and Fordson tractor valves and eventually produced ALL valves for Ford engines. Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine parts were produced there in WWII. The Valve Plant was the 1st to open and last to close.

• The Plant opened in 1925 and closed in ‘54.
• This area was originally the village of Waterford, with the Meads brothers’ Mill in the center of the community (thus, Meads Mill Middle School).
• Output: Johansson precision inspection gauges & drills. Each employee (210) was a skilled craftsman. As a result, the plant did not use inspectors.

• Henry Ford purchased this property in 1920, opened it for production in ’22 and closed it in 1947. Wayne County DPW was the last tenant of the building.
• Earlier, it had been the site of the Phoenix gristmill built around 1840 and later hosted the Matthews Distillery. Both had burned down. 
• Ford constructed the new building in 1922. The plant was unique in that its work force was all women (a precursor to the Rosie the Riveter days during WWII).
• Output: Generator parts and during WWII, artillery parts.

• After purchasing the original Wilcox gristmill, Henry razed the dilapidated structure and constructed a new building in 1923.  It was closed in ‘47.
• The facility initially produced generators and later on, taps (a tool used for forming internal screw threads). For a time, 95% of Ford Motor Company’s taps worldwide were produced here.
• Output: Generator parts until 1924, then taps. During WWII taps for government vehicles and parts for Pratt-Whitney engines.

• The Mill is on the river in Westland on Ann Arbor Trail & the Parkway.  It dates back to 1842 when it was once a grist mill.
• It was operational as one of Ford’s Village Industries from 1921 to 1947.
• Output: Machined screws and later engraving operations (during WWII, it was dies, fixtures & badges).

As you can see, Henry Ford & his Village Industry operations were a big part of the local economy and why Northville was one of the top economic areas in Michigan!

Slow down and take a trip starting from the Mill Race Village at Ford Field, drive all the way down Hines Drive to Dearborn, ending at The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. A ton of history can be found in that one short scenic ride.

Keep that Village Industries Northville Historic Faith!