Key moments in Ford, Detroit train station history

Ford Motor Co. was incorporated on June 16, 1903. Its first office was a rented building on Mack Avenue in Detroit.

It is re-establishing a presence in Detroit this year, capped by its announcement that it is buying the Michigan Central Station. The car company and the Michigan Central Station are both embedded in the narrative of Detroit.

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Here's a snapshot of some of their key moments:

April 1, 1904: Ford's board approves the purchase of land for the Piquette Plant, 461 Piquette Ave. in Detroit, which becomes the site where the Model T is designed.

Jan. 1, 1910: Ford moves production and business facilities to Highland Park.

Also in 1910: Michigan Central Railroad acquires around 50 acres in what was said to be the largest real estate transaction ever in the state at the time.

Oct. 7, 1913: The world's first moving automotive assembly line begins operation at the Highland Park plant.

Dec. 26, 1913: First train left Michigan Central Station for Saginaw and Bay City; first train arrived from Chicago. The depot was supposed to open in January 1914, but a fire at the downtown depot expedited the MCS opening.

Jan. 4, 1918: Construction starts on the Rouge complex in Dearborn. By 1929, the complex employed 103,000 people.

May 16, 1936: Ford Rotunda opens in Dearborn, but burns down on Nov. 9, 1962.

1945: Depot serves approximately 4,000 customers per day.

Feb. 20, 1953: Completion of a 4, 600-foot straightaway and a vehicle testing building at the Dearborn test track is announced.

Sept. 28, 1953: Groundbreaking for Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, which is dedicated three years later.

May 20, 1953: Ford Research and Engineering Center is dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower via closed-circuit television from the White House.

May 22, 1972: Henry Ford II and architect John Portman announce a major office and hotel development on Detroit's riverfront (later named Renaissance Center).

1971: Federal government forms Amtrak, which takes over Michigan Central Station.

April 16, 1975: MCS added to National Register of Historic Places.

April 15, 1977: Henry Ford II presides at the dedication of the Renaissance Center.

Jan. 5, 1988: Train No. 353, bound for Chicago, is the last train out of the depot.

May 17, 1996: Ford sells the RenCen to General Motors and moves its workers to Dearborn by the end of the '90s.

Dec. 11, 2017: Ford says it is buying a former hosiery factory in Corktown to locate advanced technology workers, who began moving in last month.

June 11, 2018: The Moroun family announces sale of the iconic Michigan Central Station to Ford, which plans an auto tech campus in Corktown.

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Sources: Ford Motor Co., Free Press research