TIMELINE: Ford's 100 years in Louisville

Below is a timeline of Ford?s more than 100 years of vehicle production at Ford?s Louisville Assembly Plant, courtesy Ford Motor Company

Louisville Assembly Plant Timeline
1913:? Louisville Ford Sales and Service Branch at 931 South Third Street begins assembly of 12 Model T's per day.

1914:? Construction begun on a new plant at Third and Eastern Parkway.

Jan.? 2, 1916:? Production of Model T begins at new plant.? An average of 53 employees produce 7000 vehicles per year.

June 1918-March 1919:? Plant occupied by the U.S. Army Mechanical and Medical Corps.

April 1923:? An addition increases assembly capacity from 85 to 200 vehicles per day.

Feb. 2, 1925:? A new assembly plant is opened at 1400 Western Parkway.? It has a capacity of 400 cars per day.

1937:? A major flood of the Mississippi River closes the plant for two months when it is submerged under nine feet of water.

Feb. 15, 1942:? Production of GPW 4x4 army trucks begins.? Civilian car production is ceased on February 24 and civilian truck production on March 31.

Sept.? 1945:? Full-scale civilian production resumes.

1953:? Construction begins of the Louisville Assembly Plant on Fern Valley Road at Grade Lane.? The new plant is part of Ford Motor Company's $1.7 billion postwar expansion program.

April 13, 1955:? The last car is assembled at the old plant.? Transfer of more than 150 truckloads of tools, production equipment and office furniture begins.

April 18, 1955:? The first car produced at the Louisville Assembly Plant is received by Kentucky Governor Lawrence Weatherby.? The plant occupies more than 2 million square feet on a 180-acre site.? It has a capacity of 880 cars and trucks per day, on two shifts.

Oct. 18, 1955:? Louisville Assembly Plant is dedicated.? Ford Division general manager Robert S. McNamara delivers the dedication address.

June 1957:? Edsel production added.

Jan.? 1958:? Heavy truck production added.

Nov.? 15, 1961:? An expansion program to add 90,000 square feet to the Louisville Assembly Plant is announced.

July 30, 1963:? A dinner is held to celebrate both the 50th anniversary of Ford assembly in Louisville and the centennial of Henry Ford's birth.

Sept. 22, 1969:? The last heavy truck built at Louisville Assembly Plant is an ND-1000 diesel tractor.? Medium and heavy truck production is shifted to the newly-opened Kentucky Truck Plant .

April 16, 1973:? Light truck assembly added to car production at Louisville Assembly Plant.

June 12, 1981:? Car assembly ceases, leaving only light truck assembly.? The last car, a gold LTD, is the 3,433,660th passenger car assembled in Louisville since 1913.

September 1981:? Start of a formal Employee Involvement program.

Jan.? 18, 1982:? Ranger production begins.

January 1983:? Bronco II production begins.? A total of 820,931 Bronco II's are produced before the end of production in February 1990.

April 15-19, 1983:? Louisville Assembly Plant celebrates the 70th anniversary of Ford assembly in Louisville with an open house attended by over 55,000 visitors.

Aug. 22, 1984:? Louisville Assembly Plant is presented with a U.S. Senate Productivity Award.

May 1985:? Ford announces a new $78-million automated paint operation at Louisville Assembly Plant.

July 1985:? The 1-millionth Ranger is produced.

July 14, 1987:? Ford Motor Company announces a $260 million expansion to prepare for production of a new vehicle.? The vehicle is later revealed as the Explorer.

April 26, 1988:? The 2-millionth Ranger/Bronco II vehicle is produced at Louisville Assembly Plant.

June 13-17, 1988:? Louisville Assembly Plant celebrates the 75th anniversary of Ford in Louisville.

Feb.? 14, 1990:? The first Ford Explorer is produced at Louisville Assembly Plant.

May 1991:? Louisville Assembly Plant is awarded Ford Motor Company's prestigious Q1 award.

Aug.? 22, 1991:? A new UAW-Ford Education Center is dedicated at Louisville Assembly Plant.

1992:? Production begins of the redesigned Ranger.

November 1992:? A homologation center to modify vehicles for foreign export opens at Louisville Assembly Plant.

May 1993:? Q1 award is recertified.

Aug.? 27, 1993:? Louisville Assembly Plant produces the 1-millionth Ford Explorer.

Nov. 29, 1994:? The redesigned Ford Explorer is launched.

April 1996:? Mercury Mountaineer assembly added.

May 30, 1996:? 2-millionth Explorer produced.

1999:? The Harbour Report names Louisville Assembly Plant most efficient truck plant.

Feb. 3, 2000:? Louisville Assembly Plant hosts the launch of the Explorer Sport Trac.

Sept. 16, 2002:? The 5-millionth Explorer rolls off the line.

May 14, 2003:? Louisville is one of 100 cities on the Ford Centennial Tour.? The two-day celebration at the Louisville Zoo includes classic and modern vehicle displays.

Dec. 9, 2010:? Ford announces a plan to invest $600 million to modernize and re-tool the Louisville Assembly Plant for production of the new Escape

April 2012: Ford assembly teams prepare for all-new 2013 Escape production, training in simulated factory at Louisville plant.

June 13, 2012:? Ford Motor Company, its employees, dealers and suppliers celebrate production of the all-new Ford Escape at the company?s transformed Louisville Assembly Plant, one of several U.S. manufacturing sites where Ford adds jobs to meet strong customer demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Source: http://www.whas11.com/news/local/TIMELINE-Fords-100-years-in-Louisville-192514531.html

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