sTINSON AVIATION
- NORTHVILLE, MICHIGAN

Established in Dayton, Ohio, and moved to the western suburbs of Detroit, along a prominent rail line and in a rural part where land was wide open and cheap, Eddie Stinson erected a factory to build airplanes. The Stinson Aircraft Corporation built and sold airplanes from a factory located near the intersection of Wayne and Van Born roads. Although Eddie Stinson would die in a plane crash in Chicago in 1932, his company would go on for another 18 years before merging to form the Consolidated Vultee Corporation and then Piper Aircraft. The popular Piper Apache is based on Stinson designs. After 1950 the factory saw expansions, additions and some changes as it became a GM Powertrain facility but even today, much of the original factory building remains.