If Greenfield Village is America’s backyard, Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation is its attic — in the best possible way. The Dearborn museum gathers the nation’s most powerful objects under one vast roof: the bus where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, the chair where Abraham Lincoln was sitting at Ford’s Theatre, the Kennedy presidential limousine and the Wright brothers’ original 1903 Flyer.
The galleries march through American ingenuity: Driving America pairs nearly 130 cars with the roadside culture they created; Heroes of the Sky celebrates flight; and the Mathematica and manufacturing halls turn big ideas into hands-on fun. Special exhibitions rotate through the year alongside the permanent giants.
The museum is open daily at 20900 Oakwood Boulevard in Dearborn and pairs perfectly with a Greenfield Village day. Plan at thehenryford.org — and give yourself more time than you think you’ll need.
