From farm town to Ford town to our town
Dearborn grew from a stop on the old Detroit–Chicago road into a city known around the world. Here's a short history of the city and of Westborn Mall, where Bulk Foods & Smoothies has been part of West Dearborn since 1984.
Dearborn through the years
Some of the moments that shaped the city around us.
The Detroit Arsenal
The U.S. Army built the Detroit Arsenal on Michigan Avenue in what became Dearborn. The Commandant's Quarters still stands on Michigan Avenue today, one of the city's oldest landmarks.
Henry Ford is born
Henry Ford was born on a family farm near what is now Ford Road and Greenfield Road. He would go on to change Dearborn, and the world.
The Village of Dearborn
Dearborn was incorporated as a village on March 24, 1893. Small-town main streets and early clubs like the Dearborn Country Club grew up around it.
The Rouge rises
Ford's Rouge "Eagle" Plant opened in 1917. The River Rouge Complex became the largest factory in Henry Ford's empire and brought workers to Dearborn from around the world.
One Dearborn
Voters in Dearborn and neighboring Fordson (once called Springwells) chose to join together as one city, setting the borders Dearborn has today. The old Springwells village hall on Michigan Avenue became City Hall.
Life on Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue grew into Dearborn's main street, lined with car dealers, shops and service stations serving a booming auto town.
Westborn opens
Westborn Mall was built in 1959 on Michigan Avenue at Outer Drive. That same year, Crowley's department store opened its first suburban location in the Westborn Shopping Center, making Westborn a shopping destination for West Dearborn.
Bulk Foods opens its doors
We opened at 23151 Michigan Avenue in Westborn Mall in 1984, with bins of candy, nuts, spices, dried fruit and pantry staples sold by the pound.
A home for Arab American heritage
The Arab American National Museum opened in Dearborn in 2005, the first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture. It reflects the families who have helped build Dearborn since the early 1900s.
Still scooping on Michigan Ave
More than 40 years later, we're still at Westborn, now with 40g protein oat-milk shakes, boba tea and Hershey's ice cream alongside the bulk bins.
A Dearborn staple
Why neighbors have kept coming back for four decades.
Years at Westborn
Same Michigan Avenue home since 1984.
Days a week
Mon–Sat 9 AM–8 PM · Sun 10 AM–6 PM.
Or just a scoop
Buy exactly as much as you need, from candy to za'atar.
Photo credits
- Dearborn postcard, 1912 – public domain – Wikimedia Commons
- Commandant's Quarters – Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0 – Wikimedia Commons
- Dearborn Country Club, c. 1920 – public domain – Wikimedia Commons
- Ford Plant postcard – Tichnor Brothers, public domain – Wikimedia Commons
- Old Dearborn City Hall – Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0 – Wikimedia Commons
- L. J. Stanford postcard – Tichnor Brothers, public domain – Wikimedia Commons