The "Bottom" Village
Richmond Hill, Bryan County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
The "Bottom" Village. The "Bottom" residential village, built in the mid-1930s, was the first housing project developed by Henry Ford for his employees in the Ways Station (later Richmond Hill) area. The name originated from the fact that the area had been a swamp or a "bottom" before Ford had it cleared and drained. There was a similar employee residential community on the Clyde Road just west of Ways Station called "Blueberry Village". In the Bottom there were 75 two - and - three - bedroom homes built for Ford's workers. Also in the development were a recreation building and a baseball field. No rent was charged employees until 1945 when Ford, acceding to Internal Revenue Service requirements, began charging the modest sum of $15 per month. Ford, in turn, raised their pay $15 per month to take care of the rent.
Erected by Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail
The Story
In the mid-1930s the automaker Henry Ford built "the Bottom," the first of his employee housing projects in the Ways Station area of coastal Georgia, later renamed Richmond Hill. The name came from the swampy "bottom" land Ford had cleared and drained; on it rose 75 two- and three-bedroom homes, a recreation building, and a baseball field. Ford charged no rent until 1945, when tax rules required it — whereupon he simply raised workers' pay to cover the modest fifteen-dollar-a-month charge.
Why it matters
It captures the paternalistic company-town model of the industrial age, showing how a leading American industrialist reshaped a rural Southern community around his own vision of work and welfare.
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Related people
- · Henry Ford
Themes & tags
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