Ford River Rouge complex

The Ford River Rouge complex (officially Ford Rouge Center; commonly known as the Rouge complex, River Rouge, or simply The Rouge) is a Ford Motor Company automobile factory complex located in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, along the River Rouge, upstream from its confluence with the Detroit River at Zug Island. Completed in 1928, it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

Site and buildings

Henry Ford purchased the future site of the Rouge in 1915, with plans to build a bird sanctuary.

The Rouge complex measures wide by long, including 93 buildings with nearly of factory floor space. With its own docks in the dredged Rouge River, of interior railroad track, its own electricity plant, and integrated steel mill, the titanic Rouge was able to turn raw materials into running vehicles within this single complex, a prime example of vertical-integration production. Kahn also designed the tire plant. Completed January 30, 1938, it measures 802 feet in length and 240 feet in width and features a butterfly roof and, similarly to the glass plant, has large glass panels in its walls.

Charlie Chaplin studied the Rouge for his 1936 film Modern Times. They ran from 1924 to 1980, at their peak hosting approximately a million visitors per year. They resumed in 2004, in cooperation with The Henry Ford Museum, with multimedia presentations, as well as a viewing of the assembly floor. In 2017, the Rouge had 148,000 visitors.

The Rouge formerly operated a power plant to power the facility. On February 1, 1999, the power plant exploded, killing six workers and critically injuring fourteen others. The explosion was believed to have been caused by Ford's disregard of regulation, and Ford was fined $1.5 million without criminal proceedings. Bronze plaques were installed for the six killed. In 2024, the power plant – now abandoned – was explored by The Proper People, an urban exploration YouTube duo.

The campus is also host to Rouge Steel, which was formerly owned by Ford but was sold to another firm in 1989. The mill is currently owned by Cleveland-Cliffs.

On May 10, 2004, Ford closed the Dearborn Assembly Plant (which is formerly the Building B) that it operated since 1918. The final vehicle, a red 2004 Mustang GT convertible, was driven off the assembly line by Fred Galicki, a 21-year employee.

In September 2020, Ford announced the construction of the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, costing $700,000,000 to build, for production of the Ford F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle. On May 18, 2021, then-president Joe Biden toured the plant and drove an F-150 Lightning before it entered the market. He endorsed electric vehicles during a speech at the plant.

Green roof renovation

thumb|[[Green roof of the Rouge, 2019]]

In 1999, architect William McDonough entered into an agreement with Ford Motor Company to redesign its 85-year-old, River Rouge facility. The roof of the Dearborn truck assembly plant was covered with more than of sedum, a low-growing groundcover. The sedum retains and cleanses rainwater and moderates the internal temperature of the building, saving energy.

Production history

The plant's first products were Eagle-class patrol crafts for the United States Navy, which were never deployed during World War I. The production of the warships led to the widening of the River Rouge, also allowing lake freighters to fit in it. Ford produced tractors at the plant from 1921 to 1927, and following a five-month closure, began producing the Model A at the plant. The plant also produced most of the parts of the Model T, with construction of the vehicles themselves happening in Highland Park.

thumb|The Rouge in 1973

The Rouge manufactured most of the components of Ford vehicles, starting with the Model T. Many of the vehicles were compiled into "knock-down kits", then sent by railroad to various branch assembly locations across the United States in major metropolitan cities to be locally assembled, using local supplies as necessary.

Throughout four decades, the Rouge produced multiple different Mustang models.

In 2019, to celebrate the centennial of the Rouge Plant's opening, Ford produced the Mustang Shelby GT500 at the 2020 Ford Motor Show. At 700 horsepower, it is the most powerful street-legal vehicle. As of its centennial, it is the oldest automobile plant still in operation. and as of 2022, F-150 Lightnings.

On May 26, 1937, members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) planned to hand out leaflets, which resulted in an attack by Ford; it is known as the Battle of the Overpass. The UAW was officially recognized by the Rouge on June 20, 1941, with a contract. By 1947, the Rouge plant's union was led by Communist Party USA official James E. Jackson. A caucus of the union to protect African American workers, who made up approximately 25% of employees, in 1949. The caucus' demands were denied due to being red-baited. By 1960, 65% of the plant's employees were African American, with 3.5% considered skilled laborers.

In September 2024, the tool and die makers of the Rouge went on strike over contract disagreements.

Architectural influence

The Rouge complex inspired Renault's 1920 Île Seguin factory, GAZ's 1930s factory in the Soviet Union, Volkswagen's 1938 Wolfsburg factory in Germany, FIAT's 1939 (Mirafiori factory) in Italy as well as the later Hyundai factory complex in Ulsan, South Korea, which was developed beginning in the late 1960s. With some of its buildings designed by architect Albert Kahn, River Rouge was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1978 for its architecture and historical importance to the industry and economy of the United States.

In the early stages of the Soviet Union's industrialization, Ford participated in the development of an automobile production complex in Nizhny Novgorod, which drew influence from the River Rouge complex

Current products made

Ford F-Series (1948–present)