Woodward Avenue (M-1) - Automotive Heritage Trail
Historic Chrysler Corporation, MI

On June 6, 1925, the Chrysler Corporation was founded here after a reorganization of the Maxwell and Chalmers automotive companies by Walter P. Chrysler. The first cars to bear the Chrysler name were manufactured in the Maxwell plant, which was built here in 1909. Chrysler had its origin in some 130 auto companies founded as early as 1894 and today is one of the few survivors in an industry that has included approximately 1,500 companies. By 1930, Chrysler had become the world's third largest producer of automobiles. During World War II its production of war materials helped make Detroit the world's "Arsenal of Democracy." In 1998, Daimler Chrysler Corporation was formed, the result of a merger between Chrysler Corporation and Daimler Benz.