In the early 1900s, Henry Ford established the Village Industry Project, which brought manufacturing jobs to rural areas and provided farm workers with a stable source of income during the winter months. As part of this program, Ford purchased the Northville Mill property at East Main Street and Griswold in the tiny village of Northville, Michigan.
In 1936, Ford oversaw construction of a new 40,000 square-foot valve machinery plant at the site designed by renowned industrial architect Albert Kahn.

Kahn was often referred to as the 'architect of Detroit.' Detroit's Fisher Building, the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe, and the Belle Isle Aquarium and Conservatory are just a few examples from Kahn's massive body of work.