Dodge Hamtramck Plant Main Building #1 Description and Photos
This is the west wing of the four-story reinforced concrete Machine Shop designed by Albert Kahn for the Dodge Brothers at a time when they were supplying parts to Henry Ford and others, but were not yet producing their own automobile. This was one of the first buildings erected on this site in 1910, It is 65 feet wide and 405 feet long, with steel sash and a flat roof. The two wings ran north and south and were connected at the northern end by a segment 65 feet wide and 235 feet long. The area between the wings was initially left as an open grass-covered court, but in 1914, the court was occupied by a single-story steel- framed building with a sawtooth monitor roof, designed by the Detroit architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. In 1915, the same firm designed a covered walkway to link the two wings approximately in the middle. The upper three floors were being used for engineering offices at the time the plant was closed in 1980.
MAIN BUILDING #1, CHASSIS ASSEMBLY LINE, VIEW SOUTH, 1915
MAIN BUILDING #1, SECOND FLOOR CHASSIS ASSEMBLY LINE, VIEW SOUTH, 1915
MAIN BUILDING #1, ROOFTOP, VIEW SOUTHEAST, 1980
MAIN BUILDING #1, THIRD FLOOR OFFICES, VIEW SOUTH, 1980
MAIN BUILDING #1, THIRD FLOOR VIEW SOUTH, 1980
MAIN BUILDING #1, FOURTH FLOOR VIEW SOUTH, 1980