The Edison Institute, Inc. dba The Henry Ford

Greenfield Village contains more than 80 historic structures on its ground, which allow visitors to experience the sights, sounds and sensations of the American experience. Visitors can step back in time by riding in a genuine Model T, entering the Wright Brothers Cycle shop, taking a steam-powered train ride, watching a game of 1867 rules baseball or visiting Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park Lab. Live presentations and demonstrations are conducted in twenty-five historic structures and on the two living history farms and other outdoor spaces. Special events throughout the year include the Ragtime Street Fair, Motor Muster, Civil War Rememberance Weekend, Salute to America concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Old Car Festival. Hallowe’en and Holiday Nights.

The Ford Rouge Factory Tour, created in partnership with Ford Motor Company, is built out of many parts: a video guided bus tour; a multi-media presentation theater featuring rare historic footage; a virtual reality theater with a 360-degree screen; an 80-foot observation deck that overlooks the world’s largest ‘living’ roof; a self-guided walking tour of the assembly plant; an automobile exhibit gallery and a retail store. The Ford Rouge Factory Tour celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2009. The factory tour has become an integral part of the overall experience at The Henry Ford. It is America’s greatest manufacturing experience, an intense, behind the scenes journey where history and technology merge. The Rouge, a 20th century manufacturing icon, has undergone a sweeping transformation to become a model of 21st Century manufacturing and sustainable design.

The knowledge hub of The Henry Ford, the Benson Ford Research Center (BRRC) is a 66,000 square foot state-of-the-art research facility attached to Lovett Hall. The BFRC houses research collections, storage for environmentally sensitive collections, conference rooms, a reading room, library stacks, historical archives, staff workrooms and offices, and the employee cafeteria. It is the place to personally access the archives, records and collections that document the American experience. An open treasury of research, historical expertise and unparalleled collections, Benson Ford Research Center is a remarkable public resource for understanding American people, places and things.

Many of the one million three-dimensional artifacts and more than 26 million manuscripts, prints, photographs, trade literature, periodicals, newspapers and ephemera relating to agriculture, communications, domestic life, power and manufacturing and transportation can be accessed by the public at the Benson Ford Research Center. Regular hours are held in the BFRC reading room to give public access to collections at no cost.

The place where dreamers, doers, movers and makers of all kinds
find larger-than-life-inspiration
Experience some of the most entertaining and enlightening stories of America’s past, present and future ever told — in one of the nation’s most impressive venues for telling them — The Henry Ford, located in Dearborn; just outside of Detroit, Michigan. Looking for inspiring things to do? Come experience the NEW state-of-the-art 4K digital projection, sound and seating.