The plant is located at 50 West Willis Street, near Woodward Avenue, in the center of the city's Midtown Detroit neighborhood.

Built and owned by the Detroit Edison Company, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

[2] When the plant first went on line in 1904, there were 3,000 feet (910 m) of mains in place, serving only 12 customers.

By the mid-1940s, there were 42 miles (68 km) of underground mains and serving approximately 1,650 customers.

Henry Ford began his career with the Edison Illuminating Company on September 25, 1891 assigned to this substation as a Steam Engineer, working the 6:00pm to 6:00am shift.