September 15, 2025
A new feature of the MotorCities National Area website
https://www.motorcities.org/southwest-detroit-auto-heritage-guide
DETROIT – When tourists or students want to explore Detroit’s auto century, where do they begin? By what means can they develop an appreciation of the dynamics of a growing but volatile industry? How can they begin to appreciate the differing perspectives of auto manufacturers, union members, and those who came from afar seeking work during the auto heyday? The Southwest Detroit Auto Heritage Guide, a new feature incorporated into the MotorCities National Heritage Area’s website address these questions by chronicling the rich history auto entrepreneurs, workers, and neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit.
The Guide profiles factories and firms like American Car & Foundry, General Motors Cadillac Clark Street as well GM’s Fisher Body Fleetwood and Ternstedt plants, in addition to Lincoln Motors, Graham Paige, and other firms that figured prominently in Detroit’s auto heyday. The Guide’s discussions of the Ford Motor Company, Michigan Central Station, and James Group International underscore the ongoing commitment of auto manufacturers to the neighborhood.
"Southwest Detroit could lay claim to the title of ‘The Neighborhood that Built the Car’,” said Brandi Watts, Vice President for Programs & Compliance at Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA). “In the decades prior to the rise of auto, neighborhood plants lead the nation in the production of rail cars and rolling stock. At the peak of the auto boom in the early 20th century, just prior to the crash of 1929, the Employer Association of Detroit’s ‘Labor Barometer’ payroll report indicated that 105,000 workers labored at Ford Rouge complex and Lincoln Motors operations. The combined employment at Graham Paige,Michigan Copper & Brass, and Timken Detroit Axle surpassed 8,500. GM’s Clark St Cadillac employed more than 5,500, while the Fleetwood and Ternstedt operations comprised a substantial portion of GM’s Fisher Body’s citywide pay roll of more than 16,000 employees. Statistics like these inform our efforts to pay tribute to the community that made it happen.”
The Guide’s essays chronicle the area’s 19th century industrial roots, the early years of the auto boom, and the challenges facing the industry since the end of World War II. They also focus on neighborhood events that figured prominently in transforming Detroit from a bastion of anti-unionism into one of America’s premier union towns in the 1930s and beyond.
“This initiative furthers our mission to preserve the automotive history of Southeast Michigan in an innovative way,” said Shawn Pomaville-Size, Executive Director of MotorCities. “Rarely has there been an opportunity to see such thoughtful analysis and so many rich documents assembled to help current and former residents, visitors, auto enthusiasts, faculty, students, and union members pay tribute to the automotive legacy of Southwest Detroit. We're pleased to host this guide on our website for those who want an introduction to this topic or wish to explore it in greater depth.”
Where did the idea for the Guide come from? “In 1999, the SDBA under the leadership of then President Kathy Wendler assembled a group of researchers to discuss how to begin to document the neighborhood’s auto roots. But with limited funding, it was not until 2010 that there was a renewed interest in this undertaking. At that point conversations began in earnest to explore the possibility that the MotorCities website might serve as a repository for the accounts that chronicle this story. “The Guide’s formal launch represents an invitation to area auto manufacturers and community leaders to help create new material that can be incorporated into the Guide.” said Ron Alpern, the Guide’s principal researcher. “A key priority is to add to what is currently posted that chronicle the stories of the neighborhood’s African American, Arab, Irish, Italian, Maltese, Native American, Polish and other Eastern European communities that called Southwest Detroit home and powered neighborhood auto factories.
Anyone interested in helping develop new material for the Guide should email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Visit the Auto Heritage Guide at: www.motorcities.org/southwest-detroit-auto-heritage-guide