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The Ford Rotunda – a view from our archives

From 1936 to 1962, the gear-shaped Ford Rotunda attracted visitors from around the world. It was the fifth most popular tourist destination in the United States in the 1950s.

+Ford Motor Company originally built the Rotunda, designed by Albert Kahn, for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, known as the Century of Progress Exposition, which opened in May of 1933 and attracted more than 40 million visitors over its two-year run. One of the major attractions at the fair was Ford's Rotunda, which was disassembled after the fair and brought back to Dearborn, where it was reconstructed using more permanent materials. Designed to be the showcase of the auto industry, the Ford Rotunda was opened to the public on May 14, 1936.

In 1960, the Rotunda ranked behind only Niagara Falls, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Smithsonian Institution and the Lincoln Memorial as a national tourist destination. It was more popular than Yellowstone, Mount Vernon, the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty.
You can learn more about the Rotunda at http://automotivemileposts.com/autobrevity/fordrotunda.html

Ford Rotunda Building. 1956.

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