13 photos that showcase the glory days of Detroit factories

By Metro Times editorial staff on Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 8:27 pm

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 University’s Virtual Motor City Collection)

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1920s - Ford Motor Company in Highland Park
Front view of the Ford plant.

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1930s - Ford Motor Company in River Rouge
Welders working on the back and sides of a car.

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1932 - Ford Motor Company in River Rouge
Factory workers taking out what appears to be a car door from a big metal press.

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1935 - Ford Motor Company in Flat Rock
Hard at work.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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1946 - Kaiser-Frazer Motor Car Company in Willow Run
They see them rollin’... tires.

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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.

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1950 - Chrysler Motor Car Company in Detroit
Front view of the Chrysler plant sign.

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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.

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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.

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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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