Auto industry / Business & brands
Henry B. Joy
1864–1936 · president of the Packard Motor Car Company, Lincoln Highway promoter
Detroit railroad heir who brought Packard to the city, commissioned Albert Kahn's giant plant on East Grand Boulevard and championed the Lincoln Highway.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
aged 71- Birth name
- Henry Bourne Joy
- Also known as
- Henry Bourne Joy
- Detroit years
- 1864–1936
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Joy was born in Detroit, the son of Michigan Central Railroad president James F. Joy, and started as an office boy at a railcar company his father controlled. In 1902 he saw two Packards outrun a horse-drawn fire wagon in New York, bought one, and then led Detroit investors in taking control of the Ohio company. Packard moved to Detroit, where Joy hired young architect Albert Kahn to design a plant on East Grand Boulevard; its Building 10 was among the first reinforced-concrete factory buildings in the country. As president until 1916 and chairman until 1926, Joy made Packard a byword for luxury, pushed trucks and the V-12, and backed the Liberty aircraft engine. He had Packard buy land near Mount Clemens for a flying field that became Selfridge air base. From 1913 he led the Lincoln Highway Association, the first coast-to-coast road. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
Highlights
- Led Detroit investors who took over Packard in 1902 and moved it to Detroit
- Commissioned Albert Kahn's Packard Plant (from 1903)
- President of Packard to 1916, chairman to 1926
- First president of the Lincoln Highway Association, 1913
- Packard's flying field became Selfridge Air National Guard Base
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1903–1926
Packard Plant
Closed · 1903–1958
The 40-acre Albert Kahn–designed complex he commissioned. Car production ended in 1958; parts were torn down in 2017–2023 and the rest stands as an empty ruin.
Founded · 1910s
Selfridge Air National Guard Base
Packard bought the land at Joy's urging to test Liberty-engined aircraft; the government took it over after World War I. The access road is Joy Boulevard.
Buried here · 1936
Elmwood Cemetery
Detroit's historic east-side cemetery, where Joy is buried.