The Rouge at 100

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The Rouge industrial complex turns 100 this year. It has become the substance of legend, art and the American Dream. Conceived by the mind of Henry Ford, created through the genius of Albert Kahn and made famous by the labor of hundreds of thousands of Detroiters it came to embody 20th Century Detroit.

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For me The Rouge was an opportunity for paying my way through university by building Ford 390 V8 engines in the Dearborn Engine Plant--one of the many plants in the Rouge--and learning the value and fairness of unions that paid a fair wage and allowed the workers around me to achieve their American Dreams.

Anybody else have any birthday memories of The Rouge?
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Worked in the assembly, & engine plant.....the excessive walk to your vehicle before/after work & the bridge over Miller Rd was tiring enough, after working 10-12 hour shifts.

At its peak the Rouge employed 100,000 workers.

Love the painting L. - the smoke clouds and detailing. As a child I lived in the 48208 zip code [[Warren and McGraw area) and recall the red cloud circular haze ball in the sky visible southward from Ford Rouge.

The sky color was almost a land mark. Crazy! Anyone else remember this?

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Originally Posted by Zacha341

Love the painting L. - the smoke clouds and detailing. As a child I live in the 48208 zip code [[Warren and McGraw area) and recall the red cloud circular haze ball in the sky visible southward from Ford Rouge.

The sky color was almost a land mark. Crazy! Anyone else remember this?

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Absolutely. If you were on the Bob-Lo boat cruise, you could see a variety of "colorful clouds" hanging up and down the river's shores. On both sides. Great painting [[?) Lowell.

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Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Absolutely. If you were on the Bob-Lo boat cruise, you could see a variety of "colorful clouds" hanging up and down the river's shores. On both sides. Great painting [[?) Lowell.

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I worked at the frame plant and engine plant 1967-1968. Anybody remember the metallic dust that would cover vehicles in the parking lots?

^^^ That had to be great for the lungs. I wonder how many made it well past retirement before succumbing to all forms of lung disease.

Anyone have photos of the plant 'cloud' in color from a distance? It was incredible to see from my porch as a child and teen. Like the 'orange place' over there!

I'm sure these views are current in mainland China.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

I worked at the frame plant and engine plant 1967-1968. Anybody remember the metallic dust that would cover vehicles in the parking lots?

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Not only parking lots but surrounding areas as well. The orange dust was only outdone by the metalflake finish from Great Lakes Steel, or the black soot and smell from Zug Island. Ah, those were the good old days.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

I worked at the frame plant and engine plant 1967-1968. Anybody remember the metallic dust that would cover vehicles in the parking lots?

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For sure. Another thing I remember from the Engine Plant days was the pervasiveness of oil. Everything I touched at a slight film of oil. The whole place smelled of oil, punctuated only by tobacco smoke from the cigarettes dangling from the mouths of the assembly line workers. My clothes reeked of oil when the day was done.

I remember attending Detroit College of Business which was located on Oakman between Miller & Michigan Ave. The Rouge complex was always in sight from the parking lot. At times, I would look at it while remembering my dad telling me the story of the Battle of the Overpass thinking "Wow, that's where it happened."

Worked 89 straight days one summer [[1973?) in college shoveling sand in the Dearborn Iron Foundry. Now that was a dirty job. Summer of the Watergate hearings.

Why 89 days? Something to do about having to join the union at 90 days.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

I worked at the frame plant and engine plant 1967-1968. Anybody remember the metallic dust that would cover vehicles in the parking lots?

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Yes - some of the dust would penetrate thru the paint & begin to show small rust pin-holes.

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Originally Posted by Lowell

For sure. Another thing I remember from the Engine Plant days was the pervasiveness of oil. Everything I touched at a slight film of oil. The whole place smelled of oil, punctuated only by tobacco smoke from the cigarettes dangling from the mouths of the assembly line workers. My clothes reeked of oil when the day was done.

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Several us would stop for a beer[[s) on MI Ave after work & people could smell us coming....