Document Type

Technical Report

Publication Date

10-2025

Department

College of Sciences and Arts; Department of Social Sciences

Abstract

This is the full initial submission for Alberta Village (the Ford Center) to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This application was submitted to the State Historic Preservation Office in August 2025. This application document was developed to support the consideration of Alberta Village (the Ford Center) as a historic site.

From the summary paragraph of the application:

The Village of Alberta in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was originally built as a Ford company town and lumber mill in 1935. In 1954 the village and approx. 1,800 acres of surrounding timber lands were donated to Michigan Technological University and what is now known as The Ford Forestry Center (also commonly referred to as the Alberta Campus or simply Alberta) is a three square mile property operated by MTU’s College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (CFRES). Built in 1935 as a model village that both produced lumber but also exemplified a way of living in Depression America, Alberta has, in multiple ways, continued Henry Ford’s visions of a self-sufficient “village industry” that contributed to the larger industrial production of the company. In addition, as a “forest community” and “sustained yield” timber management site, it continues to provide student experiences and sustainable practices (including some residential time spent there). With 27 extant contributing buildings, 23 built before the transfer in 1954 and 4 in the initial phase of Michigan Tech ownership (19541968), the built landscape of both the village and the surrounding woods, which remain uncleared and isolated in the northern forests of Michigan without any significant development in the surrounding area provide historical physical integrity, the location’s feel, and sense of place.

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