Dearborn, MI (DER)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2009

$2,550,046

Station Ridership

FY 2009

72,407

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The station at Dearborn is a close cousin to the Amtrak stop at Ann Arbor, for they share a common architectural language. Built in 1982, Dearborn’s one story building is composed of variegated brown brick with a prominent cantilevered roof of black metal; the deep eaves provide protection from the snow-filled Michigan winters. The waiting room is lighted by sun which streams through large floor-to-ceiling windows. A small band of clerestory windows wraps around the upper portion of the waiting room wall where it meets the roof; this has the visual effect of making the roof float above the structure, lightening the whole composition. Trackside, a long canopy shelters travelers as they arrive and depart.

A new 20,000 square foot multi-modal transportation center is planned, and will be located so as to better serve residents as well as visitors to the Henry Ford Museum complex and the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus. The current Dearborn station has become too small for the number of passengers it handles, as it is the most popular of all the Detroit area Amtrak stations for boarding and disembarking.

The city of Dearborn and the Michigan Department of Transportation are currently in the planning and design phase for a new multi-modal center that is viewed as the centerpiece of a transportation-oriented development to include student housing. Part of the funding for the Dearborn station comes from the $40 million in stimulus funds that Michigan received in early 2010 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Interestingly, the $30 million complex is designed to be constructed in phases that correspond with estimated increases in demand for various types of rail service. The first phase will create a basic 3,000 square foot facility; phase two will include 15,000 additional square feet to accommodate a commuter line between Ann Arbor and Detroit that is scheduled to begin operation in October 2010; the final phase will provide capacity for a future high-speed line. In addition, the transportation center will have space for local SMART buses and taxis, as well as provide commuter parking for automobiles and bicycles. The entire complex is estimated to be finished between 2020 and 2025.

Located ten miles west of Detroit, by the 1830s Dearborn was an important stage coach stop on a national highway connecting Detroit with Chicago. Due to this early transportation role, Dearborn was soon connected to the city by railroad, and became a stop on the Michigan Central Railroad (MC). The MC had its origins in the Detroit and St. Joseph Railway, one of the first established in Michigan under an 1832 charter. Michigan Central took over the line in 1846, paying the state $2 million for the 143 mile right-of-way stretching from Detroit to Kalamazoo. Twenty years later, MC was subsumed into Cornelius Vanderbilt’s powerful New York Central Railroad.

Dearborn became the first stop west of Detroit and in 1898 the town received a new station meant to assert the power and influence of the MC. The one-story station was constructed of wood in the Queen Anne Style, making use of architectural features such as towers, fancy woodwork, gables, and prominent chimneys incorporating detailed brickwork. The Dearborn depot was marked by a distinctive two story tower topped with a conical, “witch’s hat” roof and pinnacle. This tower projected from the façade so that the ticket agent could have a clear view of the tracks in order to monitor train movement and properly advise passengers of a train’s arrival. The waiting room was marked by a prominent gable with a piece of decorative bargeboard located at the peak’s interior; the gable also highlighted a set of recessed windows. The varying roofline was covered in wood shingles, further adding to the picturesque massing of the structure. A deep eave supported by simple, curved brackets ran the length of the track-facing façade, providing passengers with protection from the beating sun and inclement weather. It was demolished in the 1950s.

Dearborn is best known as the hometown of Henry Ford and is therefore the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company. Long inhabited by indigenous peoples mostly belonging to the Algonquian-language family, the area was not permanently settled by European-Americans until the late 18th century. The town was officially founded in 1836 and named after General Henry Dearborn who saw action in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. General Dearborn wintered at Valley Forge and was present after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 when British General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington, thus ending the Revolutionary War. Dearborn was also an early member of Congress until Thomas Jefferson appointed him Secretary of War in 1801. As Secretary, he helped plan for the removal of American Indians to the territory beyond the Mississippi River. Towards the end of his time in public service, Dearborn served as Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal. This Dearborn is but one of numerous towns and counties named for him.

Visitors to Dearborn are drawn to the nearby Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village complex. The museum holds a diverse array of objects that represent a wide spectrum of American history and experiences. Greenfield Village in an extensive 90 acre indoor-outdoor museum that showcases hundreds of historic buildings moved to the property from their original locations and arranged in a “village” setting. Tours of the famed Ford River Rouge Complex can be arranged at the Henry Ford Museum.

Constructed over eleven years from 1917-1928, when completed Ford’s plant was the largest integrated factory in the world, and helped make Detroit a powerhouse in the automobile industry. The comprehensive facilities could manufacture steel, glass, tires, radiators and other materials and parts needed for automobile construction. From its production lines came boats, Model A’s, tractors, parts for the Model T, the Ford Thunderbird, and Mustangs.

In the 1930s, more than 100,000 laborers worked in and among its ninety-three buildings which included ground-breaking factory structures designed by Albert Kahn; large expanses of glass at the roof level allowed natural light to stream into the buildings, a far cry from the typical crowded and dirty industrial buildings which dotted the nation’s urban fabric. Continuing in this spirit of innovation, starting in the early 2000s, many buildings at River Rouge were retrofitted with environmentally friendly features such as green roofs. Both the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village and the Ford River Rouge complexes are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Due to the economic opportunities created by the Ford River Rouge plant, Dearborn was a magnet for immigrants as well as Americans from other regions. The population remains diverse; in fact, Dearborn has a sizable Arab-American population including a large and established Lebanese community. The Islamic Center of America boasts the largest mosque in North America, completed in 2005. The town also hosts a large Armenian-American community established in the early 20th century.

Amtrak provides ticketing and baggage assistance at Dearborn, which is served by six daily trains.