Fordson Island (Dearborn, Michigan)

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The 8.4-acre island was created in 1922 when federal engineers, at the request of Ford Motor Co., straightened and deepened a section of the Rouge River south of the Rouge Plant.The river originally was too shallow and wound too much to properly accommodate the Eagle Chaser boats from World War I that the Ford Motor Co. wanted the Rouge Plant to utilize.

Federal engineers found it more efficient to cut directly across the land rather than deepen the existing river. Fordson Island was born upon completion of the $10 million channel.

Access to the island was possible by boat and by a plank bridge from southwest Detroit. Today, the only land access remains the small one-lane bridge.After the channel was completed in 1922, several people bought the lots on the island to put up riverfront homes.In 1970, six residents still called the island home. Through the city’s Operation Eyesore, the remaining five dwellings were removed in 1989.

The island was also home to a Marathon Oil marine loading facility which is now disused. Part of the property is leased by Marathon to Faust Co., a marine construction company.