15841 2nd Avenue
William Ford & Company
15841 2nd Avenue in Highland Park, Michigan, was built in 1925 and designed by John Kasurin. It was built for William Ford & Company. All that remains of the decorative cornice is ‘& CO. INC,’ which is expected to have read ‘William Ford & Company, Inc.’ The building was used as a showroom for Fordson farming equipment.
The structure has been vacant for at least 20 years. The parcel includes a large plot of land behind the building as well.
In 2022, the building remains vacant, and the land behind it is used as an auto salvage yard operated by Heirs Enterprise Incorporated. At a 2021 Highland Park Planning Commission meeting, the owners indicated some interest in renovating the structure—but no such plans have come to fruition.
The building is directly north of a former Detroit Terminal Railroad Line. The railroad formed a semi-circle belt line around the city of Detroit and split Highland Park in half in the process. Many automotive plants were serviced by this line, including Continental Motor Company, Hudson Motor Company, Chalmers Motor Company, and the line’s once largest supplier, Ford’s Highland Park Plant on Woodward.
15841 2nd Avenue is a short walk from that plant, so it isn’t unlikely that this building was used for something related to the automotive industry after William Ford & Company left the property.
Conrail took sole ownership of the Detroit Terminal Railroad around 1984. A large portion of the line is still in use, but some pieces have been torn up.
The line directly south of this structure was torn up sometime before 2000. It will soon be rehabilitated into a portion of the Joe Louis Greenway. 8 miles of the Greenway will use former Detroit Terminal Railroad lines, and the entire project will be 27.5 miles of walking and cycling paths.
