Ford produced over 15 million Model T cars, making it the most widely sold car in history. Although most were made in Highland Park, Michigan, more than 100,000 Model Ts were produced in Cleveland. The Ford Motor Company established a sales and service office on Euclid Avenue in 1906. In 1911, it moved its Cleveland operations to a facility at East 72nd Street and St. Clair Avenue. And, in 1914, an assembly plant, located at 11610 Euclid Avenue, took parts made in Michigan and assembled Model Ts.
The Euclid Avenue assembly plant included a showroom and sales office on the first floor, facing onto Euclid Avenue. The second, the third, and fourth floors served as the assembly area. The plant was offered to the War Department during World War I and served as a storage depot for war materiel through 1918. By the next year the plant was again producing Model Ts.
In 1923, Ford updated the Cleveland plant to the "improved moving assembly" process, which was already being used in its Highland Park plant. The plant achieved its peak production in 1925, producing 225 vehicles per day while employing 1,600 people. The last Model T rolled off the line on May 31, 1927. Later that year the factory was retooled to produce the new Ford Model A.
In 1932, Ford began producing the Model B, but because of a large drop in sales and large company wide losses, Ford closed its Cleveland branch plant in December 1932. The building continued to serve as a Ford sales office until the beginning of World War II, at which point the company gave the factory to the federal government. The building was sold after the war and used as a warehouse. It has also been used as office space, artists' studios, and a public storage site. It is currently being used by the Cleveland Institute of Art as a studio and classroom space.
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