Rising together through
better civics education

First Model T Ford: September 27, 1908

Richmond, IN

Although not the first car made, Henry Ford’s Model T was durable and made inexpensive by integration of production and assembly of parts under one roof. At first, production was limited to less than a dozen a month, but in 1910, Ford moved production of the Model T to a moving assembly line. A year later more than 34,000 Model Ts were produced. As production geared up, the price dropped from $950 for the basic model in 1910 to $290 in 1920, easily undercutting Ford’s chief competitors, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet. The Model T transformed where Americans lived, how they worked and where they could travel. By 1929, the ratio of automobiles to American households had reached 90%, with half of them made by Ford.

Website

Return to full map

Sign up below for our free “Learn. Do. Tell.” guide and alerts about Level Up Civics events and opportunities in your area.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.