Henry Ford Built WHAT?! | The Bad Blonde Car History

One of the oddest tales of automotive history, the story of Fordlandia. Henry Ford’s attempt at putting a Utopian city in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. In the 1920s Henry Ford embarked on the mission of building his ideal city, and while creating this vision of eutopia he also intended on it being his rubber source so that Ford could produce their own tires. You see at the time every component of the Ford Model T was made from a Ford-operated business except for one.. Ford Motor Company was largely dependent on Sri Lankan rubber owned by the British. The Sri Lankan rubber was driving up the cost on his Model A and he saw a solution in the Amazon Rainforest. Keep in mind, the Ford name was considered the god of innovation across the world. With the Model T and the assembly line changing the automotive arena and folks daily lives forever. He was praised in the Brazilian press for this endeavor, though that would not last long. Fordlandia was not the first try at a Ford Eutopia, an attempt to build a massive manufacturing centric city in Northern Alabama never took flight. Why was Ford attracted to build in the Amazon? It was the birth place of the rubber tree, cheap labor, and attractive geographically because of the Amazon river’s navigable waters. Ford sent a couple of men to the Amazon to make a deal, he ended up with 5,625 sq mile tract of land on the Tapajós river, a tributary of the Amazon, for a total of $125,000 and the right to run his utopian city as a separate state. Though apparently he could have gotten that land essentially free? So I guess he sent down the wrong negotiators. The site was decided to be on top of a rise, the thought behind that was to protect Fordlandia from flooding. But the site was not without trials, the chosen location was so far inland that the cargo vessesls hauling construction materials and food could not pass the rocky waters of Tapajos until rainy season. During the wait, the construction crew already on site soon revolted due to food shortage. This is just the first revolt of Fordlandia. In 1929, materials finally arrive and construction begins under the command of Einar Oxholm, though he wouldn’t last long and the project would see quite a few managers come and go. Apart from the city grid, they would also construct separate neighborhoods for the American staff. Named Vila Americana, it had running water and the best views from the rise. The city would feature hospitals, schools, generators, and a sawmill along with the landmark Fordlandia water tower. While preparing for the city and rubber tree fields, massive deforestation took place along with what is considered the largest man made forest fire in the region ever. Plus local labor to clear land was hard to come by and hard to keep. Many deaths due to malaria, snakes, spiders, and even vampire bat bites(rabies) took it’s toll on Ford labor force. Not only were the laborers frequently in peril, they also weren’t “allowed” to drink. Ford made many failed attempts to enforce an alcohol-free society BUT it was a fools errand. Finally in 1930, it appeared the city was simmering down but that didn’t last long. A violent revolt would break out over a cafeteria dispute. Where the issue arose from was that skilled workers and manual laborers were separated and evidently the quality of cafeteria service differed between the two. The Brazilian workers were not happy with the quality of food, the fact the meals were taken out of their salaries, AND that the had to stand in line to receive meals and not received plated service (which apparently the American staff did?) The riot resulted in workers vandalizing the city, destroying machinery, and even their own homes. Fordlandia’s managerial staff had to flee by ship to safety and the violence was only quelled when Pan Am air magnate, Juan Tripp, flew Brazilian military in on one of his planes. Many would think at this point Ford would give up, not that guy. Ford known for stubborn persistence, which hey, is how he came to his success finally found reasonable success with manager Archibald Johnston. Though the city was running well, the rubber manufacturing effort was not. Cultivating rubber trees was difficult to standardize and impossible to protect from Amazonian parasites which Ford realized when planting them too close together subjected the trees to blight and parasites. When one tree or trees were being massacred by parasites, they would easily hop to the next. Fordlandia survived for nearly a decade with no return on investment. As Henry Ford’s health declined the management of the company went to his grandson Henry Ford II. The Deuce would quickly pull the plug and sell the land back to the Brazilian government at a meager price. Fordlandia was left as it was in the amazon to slowly fade or disappear from the elements, vandals, or looters. Though there are still a few Brazilian residents that took home in the Vila America and or using the sawmill.