Henry Ford with Westinghouse Portable Steam Engine, Dearborn, Michigan, 1922
THF96847 / Henry Ford with Westinghouse Portable Steam Engine, Dearborn, Michigan, 1922
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Artifact Overview
Portable steam engines could be hauled from farm to farm to power grain threshers, sawmills, or corn shellers. While working on a farm in 1882, nineteen-year-old Henry Ford powered a portable Westinghouse engine - similar to the one seen here - more effectively than his boss. The accomplishment had a lasting effect--Ford continued to restore and operate portable steam engines well into the 20th century.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Photographic print
Subject Date
1922
Collection Title
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
00.1334.169
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Gelatin silver process
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 4.25 in
Width: 6.25 in
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Related Artifacts
ArtifactWestinghouse Portable Steam Engine No. 345, Used by Henry Ford
Portable steam engines like this powered grain threshers, sawmills, or corn shellers. Horses pulled them from farm to farm. In 1882, 19-year-old Henry Ford was able to make this engine run well when an older man could not; his first accomplishment in the adult world. Thirty years later Ford tracked down the engine, bought it, and returned it to operating condition.
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Related Content
articleWestinghouse Portable Steam Engine No. 345
Learn how a portable steam engine convinced Henry Ford that his future was in engineering, not farming — and how he tracked that same engine down 30 years later.