The Henry Ford - Greenfield Village

Greenfield Village

"Greenfield Village" redirects here. For the neighborhood in Houston, see Greenfield Village (Houston).

The Henry Ford is the largest indoor-outdoor museum complex in America. Patrons enter at the gate, passing by the Josephine Ford Memorial Fountain and Benson Ford Research Center. Nearly one hundred historical buildings were moved to the property from their original locations and arranged in a "village" setting. The museum's intent is to show how Americans lived and worked since the founding of the country. The Village includes buildings from the 17th century to the present, many of which are staffed by costumed interpreters who conduct period tasks like farming, sewing and cooking. A collection of craft buildings such as pottery, glass-blowing, and tin shops provide demonstrations while producing materials used in the Village and for sale. Greenfield Village has 240 acres (970,000 m²) of land of which only 90 acres (360,000 m²) are used for the attraction, the rest being forest, river and extra pasture for the sheep and horses.

The transportation system provides rides by horse-drawn omnibus, steam locomotive, a 1931 Model AA bus (one of about 15 known to exist), and authentic Ford Model Ts. The Weiser Railroad is a standard gauge passenger train that travels around Greenfield Village and has four stations. Steam locomotives in operation include the Torch Lake, an 1873 0-6-4 Mason Bogie which is one of the oldest operating steam locomotives in the U.S., and the Edison, a Davenport 0-4-0 rebuilt into a 4-4-0 by Ford. The railroad, unusually for a heritage railway, has a direct connection to Amtrak.

Some of the most notable homes and buildings include:

• Noah Webster's Connecticut home
• the Wright brothers' bicycle shop and home from Dayton, Ohio
• A replica of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park laboratory complex from New Jersey
• Henry Ford's birthplace
• Henry Ford's prototype garage where he built the Ford Quadricycle
• Harvey Firestone family farm from Columbiana, Ohio
• the Logan County, Illinois courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law
• William Holmes McGuffey's birthplace
• Luther Burbank's office