Step Back In Time: Greenfield Village Opens Gates For 2016 Season

DEARBORN (WWJ) - You can step back in time once again as Greenfield Village in Dearborn officially opens its gates Friday for the 2016 season.

Greenfield Village -- Henry Ford's vision to recreate America's past -- is an outdoor museum with nearly 100 historic buildings. It's also one of the top tourist destinations in Michigan, with over a million visitors every year.

"Our Liberty Craftworks area is always very, very popular -- especially the glass blowing, people are fascinated by that process," Program Manager Jim Johnson told WWJ's Beth Fisher. "But we actually have the Wright Brothers' home and cycle shop and we have a pretty accurate recreation, using a lot of original bits, of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, which are two so important things and things that really change the way we live today."

Johnson says popular weekends coming up at Greenfield Village include: the Civil War Remembrance , the Motor Muster, and the Detroit Symphony performs Fourth of July weekend.

At Greenfield Village, you can stroll through 300 years of history and journey into the sights, sounds and sensations of America's past that inspired Henry Ford. See what life was like for a young Henry when you step inside his birth home, explore the workshop where he built his very first motorized vehicle or take a ride around the Village inside his most famous invention -- the Model T. You can even stop inside Miller School and experience young Henry's informal education and tinker with clock parts, machines and principles that challenged him.

Visit Firestone Farm to see the newest additions to the barnyard family and watch as costumed presenters hand-sheer the grown Merino sheep just as they did back in the late 19th century. Lend a hand at the Daggett Farmhouse in sorting, picking, washing, carding and spinning wool after the Merino sheep are shorn.

Admission is $26 for adults (13-61), $23.50 for seniors (62+) and $19.50 for youth (5-12). Children ages 4 and under are free. Purchase your tickets online and save 10 percent off prices at the gate. For more information, visit thehenryford.org.