Allen Park Veterans Administration Hospital Archives

On March 24, 1937, Henry and Clara Ford donated 38 acres at the corner of Southfield and Outer Drive for use as a Veterans Administration hospital. Ground-breaking ceremonies for the hospital were held on July 27, 1937, with Henry Ford in attendance. Major additions to the original hospital were made after WWII and during the 1960s. The Allen Park Veterans Administration Medical Center was sometimes referred to as the Dearborn VA Hospital.

The Allen Park VA hospital was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 6, 1981. It is significant as part of a thematic group of VA hospitals noted for their architecture. Congress authorized construction of a replacement hospital, now called the John D. Dingell Medical Center, located at John R and Canfield Streets, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Patients were moved to the new facility on June 2, 1996 and, after prolonged discussion, the Allen Park facility was demolished in 2004. A Shopping Center now occupies the site, and on August 14, 2005, a granite monument was dedicated as a memorial.

This web site contains a sampling of items from the archives including: photographs of events, newspaper articles, audio memoirs and a few video clips. For further information, contact: Karen.Tubolino@va.gov

How to find information in the Allen Park Veterans Administration Hospital Archives

There are 5 ways to find information in this collection:

• search for particular words
• access publications by title
• access publications by people
• access publications by organization
• access publications by subject

You can search for particular words that appear in the text from the "search" page. This is the first page that comes up when you begin, and can be reached from other pages by pressing the search button.

You can access publications by title by pressing the titles a-z button. This brings up a list of books in alphabetic order.

You can access publications by people by pressing the people a-z button. This brings up a list of entries, sorted by surname.

You can access publications by organization by pressing the organizations button. This brings up a list of organizations.

You can access publications by subject by pressing the subjects button. This brings up a list of subjects, represented by bookshelves.