Ford’s extensive holdings comprised hundreds of small farms with a livable house and usable barns.
Ford Motor Company’s Cherry Hill Farm, the last freestanding working farm the automaker owns, has received an award for land stewardship by reducing pollution.
Cherry Hill is an 882-acre operation in Washtenaw County, Michigan that produces corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. Once used by Ford’s now long defunct Tractor Division for testing, the land is cultivated by the VanWashenova family. The property includes three historic barns and a house.
Starting in 1906 and continuing through the early part of the 20th century, Henry Ford bought 26,000 acres of rural property in southern Michigan, and Ford himself managed some of it. During these years, Ford began experimenting with agricultural techniques, crops and tractors.
Ford’s giant land holdings comprised hundreds of family-sized farms, including Cherry Hill. Many were used as meeting places for much of the community. At Cherry Hill, dances were held in the barns and community meetings were held in the house.
Recently, Ford began restoration of the Cherry Hill. Of the three barns, one is restored, one is in the middle of the process and the third will begin restoration next year. In addition, work has been done to the old house including new siding and windows.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
