WORKING IN LONG BEACH
The Ford Motor Company 1930–1957
The Ford Motor Company 1930–1957
image: National Park Service
Ford’s Model A was the first vehicle to be produced, beginning in 1930, and 1957 models were the last cars made before the factory ceased operation when Ford’s Pico Rivera assembly plant opened in 1958.
image: National Park Service
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the Long Beach Assembly plant manufactured trucks that were used to build Hoover Dam. During the Second World War, the location was used as a supply base by the United States Army Air Corps, with automobile production resuming in December 1945.”
If one or more of your ancestors worked for the Ford Motor Company at this plant, you may find the following websites very interesting:
The Ford Motor Car Company History website has an excellent page devoted to Long Beach’s Assembly Plant at http://fordmotorhistory.com/factories/long_beach/index.php.
Wikimedia Commons has 147 pictures of the plant at
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ford_Motor_Company_Assembly_Plant_%28Long_Beach,_California%29.
A pdf chronicling the history of the Long Beach Assembly plant from its beginning to its end is available as a FREE download from the Library of Congress at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca1600/ca1604/data/ca1604data.pdf.
Historic Films has 9 minutes of black and white footage from the April 21, 1930 opening of the plant. You can view this at http://www.historicfilms.com/tapes/10871. It is right at the beginning of a ninety-minute-long collection of film clips.
Tim Grobarty’s article, “Long Beach: a History of Hard Workers Making Big Important Things,” includes a photo of assembly line workers at the Ford plant. It is posted on the Long Beach Press Telegram website at http://www.presstelegram.com/business/20140112/long-beach-a-history-of-hard-workers-making-big-important-things.
RESEARCH TIP: Remnants of industries that dominated the lives of your ancestors still exist as street and place names in the towns and cities where they lived. Always investigate the history of any firm your ancestor may have worked for.
The Ford Motor Car Company History website has an excellent page devoted to Long Beach’s Assembly Plant at http://fordmotorhistory.com/factories/long_beach/index.php.
Wikimedia Commons has 147 pictures of the plant at
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ford_Motor_Company_Assembly_Plant_%28Long_Beach,_California%29.
A pdf chronicling the history of the Long Beach Assembly plant from its beginning to its end is available as a FREE download from the Library of Congress at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca1600/ca1604/data/ca1604data.pdf.
Historic Films has 9 minutes of black and white footage from the April 21, 1930 opening of the plant. You can view this at http://www.historicfilms.com/tapes/10871. It is right at the beginning of a ninety-minute-long collection of film clips.
Tim Grobarty’s article, “Long Beach: a History of Hard Workers Making Big Important Things,” includes a photo of assembly line workers at the Ford plant. It is posted on the Long Beach Press Telegram website at http://www.presstelegram.com/business/20140112/long-beach-a-history-of-hard-workers-making-big-important-things.
RESEARCH TIP: Remnants of industries that dominated the lives of your ancestors still exist as street and place names in the towns and cities where they lived. Always investigate the history of any firm your ancestor may have worked for.
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