Chester Switchover
80 years ago this week. The moment production switched from military equipment to civilian automobiles at this Ford plant in Chester, Pennsylvania, on 13 August 1945.
The tanks on the left are M26 Pershings, followed by a base-model Ford F-series truck.
The factory was built in 1925 on the 50-acre site of the former Roach’s Shipyard and began operations in August 1927, cranking out the Ford Model A. The 20 millionth Ford came off the line there in 1931 to great fanfare.
In early 1942, it was commandeered by the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Department to produce military vehicles, with the line converting hot from wood-paneled station wagons to GPWs (Jeep variants). The plant produced 18,533 GPWs and, as the location of an Ordnance Depot and Modification Center for armored vehicles being shipped overseas, processed a mix of 155,000 tanks, half-tracks, trucks, and jeeps through the facility.
The plant closed in 1961, and operations were moved to Mahwah, New Jersey.
The site is now occupied by several smaller businesses, including GWSI, M&M Industries, and Dee Paper Co.