Welcome to MotorCities National Heritage Area (MotorCities), where you can Experience Everything Automotive! We invite you to join us as we take a drive down memory lane, gaze into the future and share with you an amazing automotive journey.
Pull out a calendar, road map and pen, and let the fun begin! We invite you to browse the many wonderful automotive museums, homes and gardens, tours and sporting events located in MotorCities and plot your path through the heart of the American automotive industry. If you need help, we're ready to jump in! Whether your visit lasts a few hours or a few days, you are guaranteed an exciting variety of places to see and things to do.
With over 100 sites and experiences waiting to be explored, go ahead and choose your category of interest - and get ready to Experience Everything Automotive!
Visit the lakes that once offered a haven for many in the 1800s trying to break away from city life. Even as West Bloomfield modernized, citizens could still appreciate the waters that brought them there.
In the mid-1920s, the Wilson Foundry & Machine Company on the south side of Pontiac was the largest automotive foundry in the world. To meet incredible demand, Wilson actively recruited workers in the Southern states and elsewhere.
This 160-acre plot of land had a series of owners who used the farm for various means. From auto supply owners to Michigan State University, it’s been a collaborative effort to keep the farm running for nearly two centuries.
Travel to the intersection of Novi Road and Grand River Ave. and find yourself in the heart of Novi. The city has always revolved around this intersection, no matter how many stores have come and gone.
This station allowed local farmers and merchants to quickly transport their goods in large volumes between Detroit and Lansing. Before the railway, people had to make the trek via horseback or wagon.
The Novi Special was known for its speed and power. It stood out with 450 horsepower at its first Indianaoplis 500 race in 1941. It never won a race, but it always put on a show.
Automobiles were gaining ground, and enthusiasts began looking for a place to gather. The Automobile Club of Detroit was established in 1902 for this very reason, and soon enough people were driving to sites like Pine Lake with their fellow aficionados.
This short-lived inn housed visitors along the Sylvan Lake resort run by Merrill B. Mills. A decade after opening, the inn burned to the ground.
One of Henry Ford’s Villages sat right here in Clarkston. The dam built by the Clark Brothers, whom the city was named after, now sits under Washington St., but Ford’s factory, which harnessed the energy from the dam, still stands today.