All my life I’d heard about the manufacturing might of the automotive industry in Michigan. In recent years I’ve also read about plant closures. I recognize but know nothing about towns such as Pontiac, Detroit, Flint, Troy, Livonia, Flat Rock, Ypsilanti, etc. I was in the heart of Michigan and wanted to see this for myself so I mapped out a route and drove it.
First I wanted to see the scale of car plants. I drove around with my iPhone showing satellite views of my route. When I saw a large facility I’d drive toward it, position myself in the image (the blue dot), and snap a picture. Here are some examples and WOW they’re impressive.
I realize you can’t see too much detail above but compare the structures to the roads and rivers and cars and you can get an idea of the scale. These are some of the biggest, most complicated production facilities ever devised by man and we should be proud of what they represented at peak.
My second goal was to find plants such as those above which had been demolished. An easy example was in Flint which was made famous in the movie “Roger and Me” by Michael Moore. Below is all that’s left … a giant cement slab. From my meanderings about the area I can tell you it’s as you see but for the millions of weeds popping through everywhere. Sad.
Admittedly, the last theme was a bit depressing. Thankfully I had a couple of pick-me-up still in my back pocket: 1) visiting a couple of friends I’d never met face-to-face and 2) visiting the home of early Motown music.
Doug and his wife Jen are friends of mine through a shared hobby. Together we built a Route 66 themed area on a site called Waymarking.com. They’ve gone on to build many more areas such as Quonset Houses, Dixie Hwy, and others which they’ve enlisted me to support on occasion. Jen took the picture of us while I took the picture of their home. Good folk; nice visit.
The last stop for the day was at Hitsville U.S.A. Haven’t heard of it? I’ll bet you’ve heard the music that was created here! I’ll just drop a few names and let you learn more here: Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Jackson 5, Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Martha and the Vandellas. Awesome!!!
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