House-like structure at Highland Park plant

**Bcscott** · December-15-09, 11:48 AM

I've been going through some old books lately and saw pictures of the HP model T plant and noticed there appears to be a house of some sort on the property. Just north of the two remaining administration buildings fronting Woodward at the foot of Bartlett there's the remains of a circular driveway. In the attached picture you'll see what looks like a house in the lower left corner. Anybody know what this structure was?

**Hornwrecker** · December-15-09, 12:38 PM

I believe that there was an orphanage on the grounds prior to the factory. It later was used as a tech school for Ford, or something like that.

**MikeM** · December-15-09, 12:41 PM

It was the St Francis Home for Orphan Boys, which relocated to the corner of Linwood & Fenkell around the time of World War I. The building on Woodward later became the Lawrence Institute of Technology, before moving to Southfield.

**Hornwrecker** · December-15-09, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by MikeM

It was the St Francis Home for Orphan Boys, which relocated to the corner of Linwood & Fenkell around the time of World War I. The building on Woodward later became the Lawrence Institute of Technology, before moving to Southfield.

Thanks, a couple of more brain cells fired and I was just going to post that info. There's a small photo of it at this link:

http://www.ltu.edu/news/history.asp

**MikeM** · December-15-09, 12:53 PM

Here's a look at it from the north side: http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...ND-2%5D34158_2

**MikeM** · December-15-09, 01:05 PM

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....hes/page51.htm

http://monroe.lib.mi.us/eresearch/re...st_francis.htm

**Bcscott** · December-15-09, 01:08 PM

Thanks, you guys are awesome!

**MikeM** · December-15-09, 01:24 PM

You're welcome. From what I can tell, the orphanage moved out in 1916-1917 after occupying the building for only a decade. This link: http://www.local387.org/apprentice/a...ce_history.htm says Ford moved his trade school into the building in 1919. The trade school relocated to the Rouge complex in 1932; that's when the Lawrence Institute was started. They moved out in 1955 and it was demolished within the year.