In the late 19 century, Detroit had its own industrial revolution. Strategically located along the Great Lakes waterway, Detroit emerged as a transportation hub. In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted Henry Ford to build his first automobile in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue.
In 1903, Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company and in 1913, Ford implemented a large-scale assembly line to manufacture the Model T automobile at his Highland Park plant. 
Detroit was even referred to as the Paris of the West for its architecture, and for Washington Boulevard, recently electrified by Thomas Edison.Ford's manufacturing—and those of automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, Packard, and Walter Chrysler—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital.