His Rouge glass plant was regarded at the time as an exemplary and humane factory building, with ample natural light provided through windows in the ceiling.

Since the late 20th century, several buildings at the Rouge complex have been renovated and converted to "green" structures with a number of environmentally friendly features.

In the summer of 1932, through Edsel Ford's support, Mexican artist Diego Rivera was invited to study the facilities at the Rouge.

The original Building B, a three-story structure, is part of the legendary Dearborn Assembly Plant, which started producing Model A's in the late 1920s and continued production of Ford full-sized coupes and sedans through 2004.

On May 26, 1937, a group of workers attempting to organize a union at the Rouge were severely beaten, an event later called the Battle of the Overpass.

The new Dearborn Truck factory famously features a vegetation-covered roof and rainwater reclamation system designed by sustainability architect William McDonough.

Free bus tours of the facility began in 1924 and ran until 1980, at their peak hosting approximately a million visitors per year.

[citation needed] A fleet of three Ford-owned Great Lakes freighters initially named for the Ford grandsons and later renamed for top company executives, was based at the River Rouge Plant.

The deckhouse of the SS Benson Ford was transported by crane barge to Put-in-Bay, Ohio and placed on an 18-foot cliff as a private home above Lake Erie.

[13] In 1999, architect William McDonough entered into an agreement with Ford Motor Company to redesign its 85-year-old, 1,212-acre (490 ha) Rouge River facility.