• Page 1: Intro
• Page 2: Minnesota’s Automobile Factory: A Very Short History (Part I)
• Page 3: Four On the Factory Floor (Part II)
• Page 4: Escape From Assembly (Part III)
• Page 5: Ford Underground: Into the Inner City Sand Mine (Part IV)
• Page 6: Conclusion & Gallery

Intro

Christmas 2011

Weeks before Christmas, the parking lot at the Ford plant drained onto the snowy streets, leaving a husk of steel, glass, and questions. Memories of the proud work done there sank out of sight from almost everyone. They sank as the factory fell as silent as the mine below, but the explorers remembered.

It was an absurd idea—perhaps that’s why selective memory ran its course. Cars and trucks made here in Minnesota? That sort of work was for Detroit (or, more likely, overseas). But this was not Detroit; it was Saint Paul, my hometown.

For years, management threatened to close the doors—but some last-minute political deals would always stay the axe. Until one time, that didn’t happen. So, on December 16th, 2011, workers rolled a white Ford Ranger truck out of the plant, knowing that there would be no more.

Not long afterward the doors were chained and locked, it was my turn.