Page "Highland Park, Michigan" Paragraph 6

In 1907, Henry Ford purchased just north of Manchester Street between Woodward Avenue and Oakland Street to build an automobile plant.

Construction of the Highland Park Ford Plant was completed in 1909, and the area's population dramatically increased just a few years later in 1913, when Henry Ford opened the first assembly line at the plant.

The village of Highland Park was incorporated as a city in 1918 to protect its tax base, including its successful Ford plant, from Detroit's expanding boundaries.