E-M-F Homepage - Factory Photo Archive

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Welcome to the E-M-F Factory Photos Page

So you want to see some Pictures of the E-M-F Factory? Well, you have found the right page

This page contains pictures from the past and present of the E-M-F Factorys. There were a couple of factories based on what I have read, One in Port Huron MI, one in Walkerville, Ontario Canada and the one on Piquette street in Detroit MI. This page will be a gathering place for photos of any of the factories.

If you have any pictures of any of the E-M-F Factories that you would like included here, please send it to me either via e-mail or US-mail at the address' below. If you choose to use the US mail to send me a photograph, and wish to have the photo returned, please also send a Self Addressed Stamped envelope along with the photo. Include important data such as which factory, location of the photo if known, who took the picture, and any other data you would like included. THANKS!!!

Port Huron Factory Photos from the Past Piquette Street Factory Photos from the Past Piquette Street Factory Photos from the Present Piquette Street Factory destruction by fire Photos

Port Huron, MI Factory Photos from the Past
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This picture shows the factory located in Port Huron, MI.
Posted 2001-01-01 - 100

Piquette Street Factory Photos from the Past
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This picture shows the output of the E-M-F Factory. From the cars and chassis' in the photo, I would guess that this was taken in 1911. Any other ideas out there?
Posted 2001-01-01 - 200

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This is an artist rendition of the E-M-F 30 Plant on Piquette avenue in Detroit. This picture appeared in an add I found in the February 19th, 1910 edition of the Saturday Evening Post. The main front of the building (with the "EMF Automobiles" sign on the top) is Piquette, the street on the left side of the picture is John R. and the street to the right is Brush. You can see the rail road line to the back side of the plant. The interesting thing about this drawing is how big it makes the plant appear. The distance from Piquette to the railroad tracks is not nearly as far as the artist has depicted, unless the tracks have moved since then. I will say that the railroad bridges I saw when I was there appear to be pretty old.
Posted 2001-01-01 - 250

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This picture was taken inside the E-M-F plant, at what looks like a test stand for the rear ends. If you look carefully, you can see that a rear end is mounted into some kind of fixture with a belt run down to the front, possibly to power the transaxle. A man is working some control levers to shift the transaxles and possible set the parking brake. I am unsure of the year. I am also not 100% sure that this is not a Flanders Rear End. Any other comments?
Posted 2001-01-01 - 255

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This picture was taken inside the E-M-F plant, at what looks like the engine assembly area and run in area. To the right you can see tables with engines being assembled. On the left you can see a row of assembled engines. It looks like there is an electric motor on a track which can be rolled down to any of the engines. The electric motor appears to have a wheel mounted on the output shaft that can be run up against the flywheel to turn the engine, possibly to run in the bearings and rings (?). It looks like the engines are not set up to run since no water supply is connected for cooling and no exhaust hook up. Any other comments?
Posted 2001-01-01 - 260

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This picture was taken inside the E-M-F plant, at what looks like the engine test stand. You can see the water supply for cooling and what looks like a brake mechanism on the flywheel end of the engine. Maybe they are running the engine under load? also looks like the cylinder jugs are painted on this engine. Any other comments?
Posted 2001-01-01 - 265

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This picture was taken inside the E-M-F plant, at what looks like the chassis assembly area. I would date this chassis as 1911 from what appears to be a painted radiator shell and light colored axle. I wonder what the man is doing to the front axle? He has a can in his left hand and what could be a brush in his right. Is he applying striping to the car? Any other comments?
Posted 2001-01-01 - 270

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This picture was taken inside the E-M-F plant, at what looks like the finished chassis area. I would date these chassis as 1909 from what appears to be dark colored wheels. Look at the bodies in the background waiting to go on and way down the building you can see one with the top up.
Posted 2006-03-11 - 275

Present Day Piquette Street Plant Photos
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This section is dedicated to the Piquette street plant in Detroit Michigan. The factory was located on Piquette Street between John R. street and Brush street. Piquette street basically runs east-west in a south-west to north-east direction and is only a couple of blocks north of I-94. Here is a link to "MAPQUEST" with a map of where the plant was located in Detroit.

This plant was built in 1906 and was the Wayne automobile plant prior to becoming the E-M-F 30 Plant.

The factory had fallen into quite a state of disrepair when these photos where taken, though the eastern half of the building was in good condition with a couple of businesses using it. The best thing is that the "E-M-F 30" logo was still visible on the outside of the building.

These present day pictures shown below were taken by me on Saturday, May 8th, 2004 during a trip to the Detroit area.

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This is a picture showing the corner of Piquette (running right/east to left/west) and John R. St.(running north - south). You can see the windows out of the building, and that the roof is collapsed, which has actually fallen down through all of the floors to the main level.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 300

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This picture is taken looking more eastward on Piquette so you can see how long the plant goes down Piquette. It basically took the whole block between John R. and Brush streets.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 305

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This is a picture of what appears to have once been the main entrance to the plant off of Piquette Ave. It was bricked up many years ago, but as I looked at it, I pictured Walter Flanders walking up the steps and into the building, or maybe the Studebaker brothers.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 310

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This is a picture of a drive through entrance to get from Piquette into the courtyard between the buildings. You can still drive into this area to access the businesses in the east half of the building. I did not go through this entrance, but now I am kicking myself for not doing so.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 320

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This is a picture of a gate on the west side of the complex on John R. Street. I do not know for sure, but I think that the building on the right side of this photo use to extend to the left and was at one time much longer. That is the way the Artist rendition also depicts this side of the complex. This picture, as well as the next, give you a look at some of the garbage that is also all over the complex.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 325

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This photo shows the area between the buildings. You can once again see the garbage that is very prevalent, and the bad condition of this part of the building. Don't ask how I got this picture :) The section of building to the right is the back side of the building that faces Piquette. The building on the left is the middle building and has the E-M-F Logo on the north end (see picture below).
Posted 2004-09-14 - 330

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This is a picture of the Back side of the E-M-F Factory taken from Baltimore street looking south. You can still see the E-M-F "30" logo and the "Studebaker Corporation" signs painted on the side of the building.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 335

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This is another picture of the E-M-F "30" logo that is still visible on the back (north) side of the factory. I had to climb up on some rail road tracks to get this picture.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 340

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This photo I took looking into one of the broken windows on Piquette Street to show the general state of the inside of the building. There is almost more crap in there than I have in my garage...almost. If you look carefully, you can see where the ceiling has collapsed from the floor above.
Posted 2004-09-14 - 345

Piquette Street Plant Fire Photos
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UPDATE Tuesday, June 21, 2005. - At approximately 9:12 PM Central Time on Monday June 20th, 2005, the E-M-F Plant on Piquette street caught fire and within a few hours was gone. The fire raged to a 5 alarm strength. I was informed at 10:30 PM Central time of the fire and over the next day received emails and calls from over 40 people. I thank everyone for keeping me apprised of the situation.

If you have photos you have taken and would like me to consider including them here, please send me an electronic copy and the permission to use them. I would REALLY appreciate it. Thanks!.

UPDATE Tuesday, July 19, 2005. - Thanks for all the emails about photos of the fire and especially to those who allowed their photos to be preserved here. I have more photos than appear here, but these show the scope and damage done.

Here is a link to the Detroit Free press with an article about the fire: http://www.freep.com/news/locway/webfire21e_20050621.htm.

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This photo was take by John Avedisian of Explosive Entertainment who was on the scene Monday night/Tuesday Morning June 20th and 21st, 2005. This photo was taken from Brush street looking north. The Ford Piqiuette plant is to the right of this. This is the east end of the building and housed the businesses that still used the building.

Notice the fire just starting to break through the Piquette Market sign.

Thanks to John Avedisian for the use of this photo.
Posted 2005-06-20 - 400