Ford Long Beach Assembly Plant
Decision to Build in Long Beach, California
Site Selection
Physical and Environmental Setting
Meeting Ford's Requirements for a Plant Site
Contract and Purchase
The Long Beach Community and Ford Look Ahead
Albert Kahn, Architect
Take Off Toward Building
The Opening
THE WORK PLACE
Introduction
The Organization
Organizing Labor
Post World War II
Social Affairs and Social Boundaries
Labor Conclusions
Technology and Process
Pressed Steel Technology
Assembly Floor
TEMPORAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
Introduction
The Development Period: Depression Years
Development: The Post-War Years
Plant Improvements
The First Flood and New Bulkheads
Take Off into Sustained Production
Demise Period
Flood and Fire in 1956
Last Days
Demolition
IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY, SOCIETY, AND ENVIRONMENT
Local and West Coast
Regional and National Impact
Site's Effect on the Physical Environment
Pictures and Building Descriptions
Oil House
Shed A
Shed C & D
Cranes
Office Building
Assembly Building
Warehouse
Pressed Steel Building
Pictures of the Plant
Ford Motor Company built the Long Beach Assembly Plant during 1929-1930 as one of six contemporaneous assembly plants constructed in the United States. The overall purpose of these plants was to expand production of Ford's Model A, which replaced the Model T in 1927. Albert Kahn, the architect for the Long Beach Assembly Plant, also designed the other five Ford Assembly Plants. The Long Beach Assembly Plant was the only plant outside of Michigan to have a Pressed Steel Department as an integral part of the manufacturing and assembly process. Kahn's architectural design incorporated an enormous articulated structure that retained aesthetic qualities, yet permitted functional use of space. The Long Beach Assembly Plant operated until 1958 and typified the Ford Assembly Line concept. On a national scale the Long Beach Assembly Plant reflected a national trend of industrial growth, mass production of consumer goods, and the consumption of those goods.
The former Ford Motor Company Long Beach Assembly Plant was evaluated eligible to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), The Port of Long Beach sought to redevelop this property, ultimately resulting in plans to demolish and remove all vestiges of this plant. The plant was demolished between October 1990 and January 1991.
Jun 5, 1936, EXTERIOR-FORD ASSEMBLY PLANT AT LONG BEACH, OVERALL VIEW OF PLANT FROM THE HENRY FORD BRIDGE, CERRITOS CHANNEL IN THE FOREGROUND