Ford Acquired Timberland for Car Production, Built Sawmill Plant
“1. Ford DID acquire large timberland (but not “just forests” casually) Henry Ford acquired large amounts of timberland in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to supply wood for car production One source notes: Ford purchased over 300,000 acres in the Iron Mountain area 👉 So: ✔ He didn’t randomly “own forests” as a fun fact ✔ He strategically acquired timberland for production 2. YES — there WAS a dedicated plant in Iron Mountain Ford built a sawmill and body plant there in the early 1920s That facility: processed wood supplied materials for cars later produced charcoal from scrap 👉 Also confirmed: The Iron Mountain/Kingsford site built wooden auto bodies and processed wood”
Summary
Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company bought over 300,000 acres of timberland in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and built a large sawmill and wood‑distillation plant near Iron Mountain in the early 1920s. The Iron Mountain/Kingsford facility produced lumber and later charcoal for Ford automobile bodies and other components, confirming it was a dedicated production plant.
Sources 59 searched
- Re-tooling society: A lesser known side of Henry Ford | National Museum of American History
As much as he wanted to make cars and make money, Ford wanted to "make men," turning people into his vision of what it meant to be American. Whether in his plants in Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, his schools and "Village Industries" near where he grew up, or in the jungles of Brazil in a city he named Fordlandia, Ford sought to retool society.
- Company Town | 2016 Michigan Tech Magazine: Issue 2
In a 1999 edition of Michigan History Magazine, Cleven writes, "In 1951 the Ford Motor Company sold the Iron Mountain Operation, extending Alberta's life a short time. The L'Anse and Alberta mills operated until June 30, 1954." One could argue that 1954 marked not the end, but a rebirth of the former company town, as Michigan Tech entered the picture. On November 30, 1954, Alberta, its well-equipped sawmill, and over 1,700 acres of adjacent timberland were donated to the Michigan College of Mining and Technology for researching the methods of timber management and utilization, and serving as a laboratory to train students in the field of forestry.
- Ford in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - The Henry Ford
In pursuit of self-sufficient automobile manufacture, Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company purchased over 313,000 acres of timberland for logging in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Ford built a large lumber camp in Sidnaw, where well-fed, ...
- Operating Floor of Wood Distillation Division, Ford Iron Mountain Plant, Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1935 - The Henry Ford
Operating Floor of Wood Distillation ... automobile manufacture, Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company purchased over 313,000 acres of timberland for logging in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan....
- Interior View of Sawmill at Ford Iron Mountain Plant, Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1946 - The Henry Ford
In pursuit of self-sufficient automobile manufacture, Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company purchased over 313,000 acres of timberland for logging in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A massive sawmill complex was constructed at Iron Mountain, including ...
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