Schuyler Mill – Ford Soybean Plant Complex
Schuyler Mill – Ford Soybean Plant Complex | |
42°9′46″N 83°47′23″W / 42.16278°N 83.78972°W / 42.16278; -83.78972 | |
Area | 11.5 acres (4.7 ha) |
---|---|
Built | 1845 |
Architectural style | Greek Revival, Classical Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 96000477[1] |
Added to NRHP | May 08, 1996 |
The Schuyler Mill, also known as the Ford Soybean Plant Complex, is an old mill site that Henry Ford turned into one of his small village industry factories. It is located at 555-600 Michigan Avenue in Saline, Michigan, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.[1]
History
In 1845, David Schuyler Haywood constructed a gristmill at this site[2] on the western edge of Saline, Michigan.[3] A small settlement, Barnegat, soon coalesced around the mill site; Barnegat was annexed by the village of Saline in 1848.[4] However, by 1865, business declined, and the mill was soon closed.[5]
Henry Ford purchased the site in 1936,[6] refurbished it, and opened it as a soybean processing plant in 1938.[2] The site employed up to 19 people,[2] who removed the soybean oil from the beans, which was processed into plastics and paint.[3] The residuals were used to make casting cores or for cattle feed.[3] In 1943, Ford moved a one-room Greek Revival schoolhouse to the site and refurbished it as a residence.[5] However, the plant was closed in 1947, not long after Henry Ford's death.[2]
After its closure, the building was used by a private soybean processing firm.[2] However, the processing equipment was soon obsolete,[5] and in 1962, the property was turned into an antique shop and general store, know first as the "Sauk Trail Inn".[7] and later as "Weller's Country Store."[6] More recently, part of the structure has been used as a cafe[2] and a banquet facility.[5]
Description
The Schuyler Mill/Ford Soybean Plant Complex sits on 11-1/2 acres in a park-like setting.[5] It consists primarily of the original 1845 mill and the ancillary fieldstone-lined millrace.[5] The mill is a three-story timber-framed gable-roofed Greek Revival building covered with clapboard. A smaller two-story wing sits to one side; it is flanked by two single-story wings.[5] Across the street sits a modern residence built around the old schoolhouse.[5]
In addition, Ford built four more structures: a Greek Revival-style extractor plant and a pump house near the mill, and two storage buildings near the mill. In addition, Ford constructed a dam and spillway at the mill pond.
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Howard P. Segal (2005), "Appendix: Basic Facts About and Present Status of the Nineteen Village Industries", Recasting the machine age: Henry Ford's village industries, Univ of Massachusetts Press, pp. 161–166, ISBN 1-55849-481-2
- ^ a b c Ford Richardson Bryan (1997), Beyond the Model T: the other ventures of Henry Ford, Wayne State University Press, pp. 45–57, ISBN 0-8143-2682-X
- ^ Grace Shackman. "Then & Now: Schuyler's Mill". Ann Arbor Observer. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Schuyler Mill/Ford Soybean Plant Complex". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
- ^ a b David Lewis (November 1976), Down by the Old Mill Stream (PDF), Washtenaw County Historical Society
- ^ Ren Farley (August 2010). "Henry Ford's Saline Mill/Schuyler Mill". Detroit1701. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
External links
- Weller's Weddings
- v
- t
- e
- Chelsea Commercial Historic District
- East Michigan Avenue Historic District
- Eastern Michigan University Historic District
- Langford and Lydia McMichael Sutherland Farmstead
- Main Street Historic District‡
- North Ann Arbor Street Historic District
- Old West Side Historic District
- Schuyler Mill – Ford Soybean Plant Complex
- St. Patrick's Parish Complex
- University of Michigan Central Campus Historic District
- Ypsilanti Historic District
- Ann Arbor Central Fire Station
- Arnold and Gertrude Goss House
- Bell Road Bridge
- Bell-Spalding House
- Brinkerhoff–Becker House
- Charles Guthard House
- Delhi Bridge
- Delta Upsilon Fraternity House
- Detroit Observatory
- Detroit, Hillsdale and Indiana Railroad-Saline Depot
- Dixboro United Methodist Church
- Dr. Benajah Ticknor House
- Emanuel and Elizabeth Rentschler Farmstead
- First National Bank Building
- Floyd R. Mechem House
- Fountain–Bessac House
- Friend–Hack House
- George R. Lutz House
- George W. Palmer House
- Germania Building Complex
- Goodyear Block
- Gordon Hall
- Groves Farm
- Harris Hall
- Henry Bennett House
- Henry R. Watson House
- Henry S. Frieze House
- Highland Cemetery
- Jacob Hoffstetter House
- James Litchfield House
- Jortin Forbes House
- Joseph Annin House
- Judge Robert S. Wilson House
- Kellogg-Warden House
- Ladies' Literary Club Building
- Louis Sturm House
- Main Street Post Office
- Methodist Episcopal Church Parsonage
- Michigan Central Railroad Chelsea Depot
- Michigan Central Railroad Depot
- Michigan Theater Building
- Miller-Walker House
- Nathan B. Devereaux Octagon House
- Nathan Esek and Sarah Emergene Sutton House
- Newberry Hall
- Nickels Arcade
- Northern Brewery
- Oakwood Cemetery Mausoleum
- Orrin White House
- Parker Mill Complex
- Pease Auditorium
- President's House, University of Michigan
- Robert C. and Bettie J. (Sponseller) Metcalf House
- Saint Mary's School
- Salem Methodist Episcopal Church and Salem Walker Cemetery
- Saline First Presbyterian Church
- Samuel D. Van Duzer House
- Starkweather Religious Center
- Stone School
- Thomas Earl House
- Tuomy Hills Service Station
- Union Block
- Unitarian Universalist Church
- Wallace Block-Old Saline Village Hall
- Weinmann Block
- William and Elizabeth (Bodanzky) Muschenheim House
- William Anderson House
- William B. and Mary Shuford Palmer House
- William H. Davenport House
- Ypsilanti Water Works Stand Pipe
- Zalmon Church House