Just A Car Guy: A small place named Big Bay, that Henry Ford bought in 1943, but the Ford Company sold it in 1951 as it was not profitable to make cars there

Monday, May 20, 2019

A small place named Big Bay, that Henry Ford bought in 1943, but the Ford Company sold it in 1951 as it was not profitable to make cars there

Henry and Clara Ford enjoyed visiting Big Bay when staying at the nearby Huron Mountain Club.

The Huron Mountain Club is a private 8000 acre 50 member only place where the megawealthy bought and built "cabins" some twice the size of regular houses, much like the "summer homes" the super rich had in Rhode Island, and the "summer camps" the super rich made in the Adirondacks. https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-publication-of-adventures-in.html

There were two founders, one was Patton's father in law. Fred Miller of Miller Brewing Co was an early member, so was the Dodge family, they bought 3 cabins

And it has a garage that keeps the old Jeeps going, that many members leave on site.

The dues each year are paid by the members, and that was about 2 million in 2015.

It took Henry Ford 13 years to join this mysterious elite club. Fred Bear (famous archer) never got in. https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2025/01/an-unusual-roadside-attraction-near.html

The club began in the 1880's by some wealthy Marquette businessmen encompassing some 20 thousand acres. Henry Ford became obsessed with joining, but couldn't based on bylaws of 50 members only.

So he bought all of the land around the club and denied access…. After boating in and out for awhile the club reconsidered

Ford's Detroit legal team blocked the proposed M-35 truck route from being built through club property.

In 1929, during the stock market crash, Henry built a $100k cabin on the club property. He felt the best slate came from the bottom of a pit... so he had the pit drained. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=5105412572815693&set=gm.1261259951048162&idorvanity=674535449720618

HMC lives on today with its secrets and limited club membership. Mostly because nearly no one knows it exists. Only a few teens who got summer jobs, the postal delivery and such.

In 1943, Henry bought the Big Bay community's sawmill, power plant, and houses and turned Big Bay into a company town. Its quaint hotel, the two-story building at right, became a popular destination for vacationing Ford executives. Ford Motor Company abandoned the unprofitable venture in 1951.

if it sounds shocking to hear that the founder of Fo Mo Co bought towns, then get ready for more shocks, he also owned Pequaming, Alberta, etc etc. and you've probably heard of Fordlandia

Ford was progressive in his employee care, to a point. If they had a strike, he had the police kill them. That's just a fact. Don't believe me? Look Harry Bennett and the Service Men, or Mayor of Detroit, Clyde Ford, Henry's cousin, and the Fort Street bascule bridge Massacre where Henry ordered his security guards, his "Service Men" to open fire, and the Dearborn Police Dept to open fire and told his cousin, the Mayor, to have the Detroit PD open fire, and some Ford hench men had Thompson submachine guns... so did some cops. The Detroit Fire Dept open up 2 inch fire hoses (this was in March 1932) to freeze the protestors and strikers.

But when they were working for him, he provided a town, homes, hospital, school, indoor plumbing, etc.