A Michigan suburb in the Amazon
In 1928, Henry Ford began constructing a prefabricated American town deep in the Brazilian rainforest. The site, named Fordlandia, was an ambitious industrial project designed to secure a source of rubber for his car company and break the British monopoly on the material. Ford's concession from the Brazilian government gave him control over roughly 10,000 square kilometers of land along the Tapajós River, an area larger than some U.S. states. The plan was to create a city for 10,000 people, complete with Cape Cod-style houses, a modern hospital, a school, a golf course, and a swimming pool.
The industrial infrastructure was substantial. A power plant provided electricity, and a large sawmill processed jungle timber. The most prominent structures, still visible today, are the 45-meter-tall water tower and large factory warehouses. Ford’s managers, imported from the American Midwest, attempted to recreate a Michigan lifestyle. They enforced Prohibition, organized Saturday night square dances, and served American food like hamburgers and canned peaches in the communal dining hall. Local workers, accustomed to different rhythms and diets, chafed under the strict 9-to-5 work schedules in the equatorial heat. In December 1930, resentment boiled over into a riot. Workers destroyed machinery, smashed the hated time clocks, and drove American managers into the jungle.