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View Full Version : Ford Motor Co. plant demolished after nearly a century



MyBlackBeasts
06-11-2013, 08:54 PM
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2472548630001/ford-motor-co-plant-demolished-after-nearly-a-century/?playlist_id=932063991001

seabreeze
06-11-2013, 11:45 PM
That really saddens me. I grew up right across the river on the Minneapolis side, just over the FORD bridge...I could see the big Ford sign lit up at night from my bedroom window. The amazing thing was, I never thought I would work there. But truth is stranger than fiction...

I spent some weeks there after I went to work for Ford (in Dearborn), back when they were making both the Ranger and the F-Series in the early Nineties. I remember the body shop robot re-spot weld line had all the robots named for female country signers: Loretta, Tammy, Dolly, etc. Had several classmates from U of M get jobs there, and several parents of my friends worked til retirement there.

The hydroelectric plant, the sand mine, the big paint shop expansion...so much history. That's unfortunately the way business goes. :bigcry:

I hope the impact has been managed for the displaced employees. It was a Twin Cities landmark I will miss, the next time I am back there. But it will remain in my memory as one of the really good things about St. Paul and Highland Village.

Scott

Chad1987
06-12-2013, 04:43 AM
Oh wow, I had totally forgotten they had started demolition of this landmark. I saw it online a few days ago, but forgot until I saw this. I live about 20 minutes across St. Paul from the Ford plant, so I'll definitely have to cruise over there tomorrow to watch them demo it for a bit.

I took some photos of my Marauder out at the plant about a year ago.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/The%20Marauder/2012-06-01_12-24-51_944.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/Chadillac8705/media/The%20Marauder/2012-06-01_12-24-51_944.jpg.html)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/The%20Marauder/2012-06-01_12-22-17_888.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/Chadillac8705/media/The%20Marauder/2012-06-01_12-22-17_888.jpg.html)

jerrym3
06-12-2013, 04:56 AM
Some of you guys probably remember the Ford Mahwah plant in NJ, but how many remember the Ford plant in Edgewater, NJ?

The plant was constructed on a pier that jutted out into the Hudson River. At the end of the pier was a big FORD sign that was visible from New York's Manhatten.

The pier is still there, but it's now stores and highpriced condos.

The parts depot where I worked in Teterboro, NJ, was vacated by Ford years ago.

Memories?

I met a co-worker (Larry) in 1965 at the depot and wound up marrying his sister. We just had our 46th anniversary.

Before I even knew Larry, my foreman asked me to drive one of the security guards home one night who's car wouldn't start.

That guard became my father-in-law!

Haggis
06-12-2013, 05:02 AM
Some of you guys probably remember the Ford Mahwah plant in NJ, but how many remember the Ford plant in Edgewater, NJ?

The plant was constructed on a pier that jutted out into the Hudson River. At the end of the pier was a big FORD sign that was visible from New York's Manhatten.

The pier is still there, but it's now stores and highpriced condos.

The parts depot where I worked in Teterboro, NJ, was vacated by Ford years ago.

Memories?

I met a co-worker (Larry) in 1965 at the depot and wound up marrying his sister in 1967.

Before I even knew Larry, my foreman asked me to drive one of the security guards home one night who's car wouldn't start.

He became my father-in-law!

I remember that plant, grew up 2 miles north of there.

MyRaider
06-13-2013, 01:12 AM
This kinda stuff really saddens me... the paradigm has shifted (as was predicted) but I really miss the old days. (My late father worked at the old Ford plant in Dallas until they shut it down.)