Panorama of Menlo Park Compound Construction Site, Greenfield Village, March 27, 1929

Summary

In 1928, Henry Ford commissioned a painstaking reconstruction of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory for Greenfield Village. Researchers referenced photographs and reminiscences from Edison's early employees, and crews incorporated salvaged materials and original structures from the laboratory's long-abandoned New Jersey site. Construction was completed by October 1929, when Ford dedicated his museum and village as the Edison Institute of Technology.

In 1928, Henry Ford commissioned a painstaking reconstruction of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory for Greenfield Village. Researchers referenced photographs and reminiscences from Edison's early employees, and crews incorporated salvaged materials and original structures from the laboratory's long-abandoned New Jersey site. Construction was completed by October 1929, when Ford dedicated his museum and village as the Edison Institute of Technology.

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

27 March 1929

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

P.ECP.113

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Linen (Material)
Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 7.375 in

Width: 19.875 in

Inscriptions

Inscribed by photographer in lower right corner of image: 3-27-29

Connect 3

Discover curious connections between artifacts.

Learn More