The 20th century was an exciting time in Detroit and these vintage photos of factories prove it. From automobiles to jets, the Motor City was home to great titans of industry and the hard-working people who got things built. Take a look back at these 13 nostalgic images that prove Detroit definitely hustles harder.

(Photos via the Detroit News Collection and Wayne State UniversityÂ’s Virtual Motor City Collection)

1920s – Ford Motor Company in Highland Park Front view of the Ford plant.
1930s – Ford Motor Company in River Rouge Welders working on the back and sides of a car.
1932 – Ford Motor Company in River Rouge Factory workers taking out what appears to be a car door from a big metal press.
1935 – Ford Motor Company in Flat Rock Hard at work.
1940s – Kaiser-Frazer Motor Car Company in Willow Run Just finishing up an assembly line of partially completed cars… and counting the minutes until lunch (yeah, we’re looking at you, guy on the right).
1941 – Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit No, that’s not the former department store. That’s the Hudson Car Company, which was co-founded by the same person who established Hudson’s.
1941 – Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit Just a view of the everyday commute to work. Trolley cars, mobs of people, cars, quite the scene for workers at the Hudson Motor Car Company and their neighbors at Chrysler.
1946 – Kaiser-Frazer Motor Car Company in Willow Run They see them rollin’… tires.
1947 – Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit Car dealerships looked a lot different than what they look like now. And obviously, so do the cars.
1950 – Chrysler Motor Car Company in Detroit Front view of the Chrysler plant sign.
1952 – Kaiser-Frazer Motor Car Company in Willow Run Before there were giant machines, there were small people climbing planes and scaffoldings to get work done.
1952 – Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit The Packard Pedestrian Bridge allowed workers to walk to and from each building without having to step foot outdoors.
1958 – Chrysler Jet Plant in Sterling Heights While Detroit is primarily known for making cars, hence the nickname the Motor City, we also constructed jets.

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