Last updated: October 6, 2021
Place
Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant Louisiana
Photograph by Rick Fifield, courtesy of Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office
Quick Facts
Location:
7200 North Peters Street, Arabi, Louisiana
Significance:
Architecture, Commerce, Industry
Designation:
Listed in the National Register – Reference number 100002589
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
Private
The Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant, located at 7200 North Peters Street in Arabi, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, was completed in 1923 as a branch plant for the assembly of Ford automobiles in the Gulf South region. Historically about 16 acres and later expanded to 27.8 acres, the property was strategically located at the Mississippi River and adjacent to railroad lines to transport parts and finished automobiles to and from the plant. The plant includes two contributing buildings: the assembly plant (1922-23) and the oil pump house (1922-23), both of which were designed by industrial architect Albert Kahn. The plant is a sprawling, 227,000-square foot structure constructed of reinforced concrete and steel that housed a variety of functions, including assembly operations with a moving assembly line, a showroom, offices, and warehouse storage.
The Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant was constructed as one of over three dozen branch assembly plants that Ford established throughout the United States between 1911 and 1932, nearly all of which were designed by the firm of industrial architect Albert Kahn. A new concept in automobile production at the time, these plants were devised to address the company’s distribution problems in the face of rapid sales increases. Rather than shipping completed automobiles from Ford’s headquarters in Michigan, which was unwieldy and expensive, unassembled parts were sent to branch plants throughout the country to be assembled on site. The completed automobiles were then shipped to local and regional dealers or overseas to international markets. At the same time, Ford also established branch agencies focused on sales and servicing. The assembly plants acted as miniature factories for the agencies to supply parts needed to make timely repairs. These new localized nodes of production, sales, and servicing created a more efficient and streamlined system, enabling Ford Motor Company to provide more comprehensive customer service, better target regional demand, and offer lower price points to its growing customer base than ever before. Soon enough, virtually “every other car in the United States [was] a Ford,” including in the New Orleans area, and the assembly plants were a key cog in the company’s success.
The Arabi plant closed for a year when Ford ceased production of the Model T in 1927 and began production of the new Model A. The facility reopened once it was updated to assemble the new model and, in 1929, it broke production records with an average output of 300 cars per day. In November 1929, at the dawn of the Great Depression, Ford was optimistic that 1930 would be its busiest year ever. Surveys at that time indicated that Fords comprised 48 percent of all automobiles sold in Louisiana, 52 percent in Mississippi, and 58 percent in Alabama. And indeed, 1930 and 1931 were strong years for the Arabi plant, but it was not enough to survive the Depression, and in December 1931 the plant was shuttered. It reopened briefly in 1932, prompting business leaders to celebrate it as a “signal of better times,” and in early 1933 Ford sales increased an incredible 386 percent in the New Orleans area, but it was not enough to keep the plant operational.
In 1933, the plant ceased assembly operations and was converted into a Ford parts and distribution center. During World War II, the port quartermaster of the United States Army leased it as a warehouse. After the war, it continued as a parts and distribution center until the early 1970s, when it was sold to Southern Service Inc., an importer of Toyotas and Mazdas supplying the Midwest market. From 1977 until 2005, the building held freight storage for goods such as coffee and twine. It flooded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and sat vacant for about a decade. Today, it is leased as storage for the film industry.
The Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant was constructed as one of over three dozen branch assembly plants that Ford established throughout the United States between 1911 and 1932, nearly all of which were designed by the firm of industrial architect Albert Kahn. A new concept in automobile production at the time, these plants were devised to address the company’s distribution problems in the face of rapid sales increases. Rather than shipping completed automobiles from Ford’s headquarters in Michigan, which was unwieldy and expensive, unassembled parts were sent to branch plants throughout the country to be assembled on site. The completed automobiles were then shipped to local and regional dealers or overseas to international markets. At the same time, Ford also established branch agencies focused on sales and servicing. The assembly plants acted as miniature factories for the agencies to supply parts needed to make timely repairs. These new localized nodes of production, sales, and servicing created a more efficient and streamlined system, enabling Ford Motor Company to provide more comprehensive customer service, better target regional demand, and offer lower price points to its growing customer base than ever before. Soon enough, virtually “every other car in the United States [was] a Ford,” including in the New Orleans area, and the assembly plants were a key cog in the company’s success.
The Arabi plant closed for a year when Ford ceased production of the Model T in 1927 and began production of the new Model A. The facility reopened once it was updated to assemble the new model and, in 1929, it broke production records with an average output of 300 cars per day. In November 1929, at the dawn of the Great Depression, Ford was optimistic that 1930 would be its busiest year ever. Surveys at that time indicated that Fords comprised 48 percent of all automobiles sold in Louisiana, 52 percent in Mississippi, and 58 percent in Alabama. And indeed, 1930 and 1931 were strong years for the Arabi plant, but it was not enough to survive the Depression, and in December 1931 the plant was shuttered. It reopened briefly in 1932, prompting business leaders to celebrate it as a “signal of better times,” and in early 1933 Ford sales increased an incredible 386 percent in the New Orleans area, but it was not enough to keep the plant operational.
In 1933, the plant ceased assembly operations and was converted into a Ford parts and distribution center. During World War II, the port quartermaster of the United States Army leased it as a warehouse. After the war, it continued as a parts and distribution center until the early 1970s, when it was sold to Southern Service Inc., an importer of Toyotas and Mazdas supplying the Midwest market. From 1977 until 2005, the building held freight storage for goods such as coffee and twine. It flooded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and sat vacant for about a decade. Today, it is leased as storage for the film industry.