Packard Proving Grounds

The Packard Proving Grounds, was a proving ground established in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan in 1927 by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.HistoryPackard had been founded in Warren, Ohio in 1899 by brothers James Ward Packard and William Doud Packard. The company attracted several investors from Detroit, and by 1903 the Michigan investors had convinced the Packard brothers to let them relocate the young business to the emerging motor capital of Detroit.The Packard automobile quickly evolved into a superbly engineered prestige vehicle. To maintain and advance their product position, Packard’s general manager, Henry Bourne Joy, sought to establish a dedicated testing facility. Testing on local streets and roads was risky due to traffic, and could potentially expose Packard’s future product developments to curious competitors.An early attempt to locate a testing facility north and east of Detroit near the city of Mount Clemens was not approved by the Packard board of directors. A site had already been acquired by Henry Joy, but the 640acre was deemed to not have enough topographic diversity to allow for such things as hill testing. At the dawn of America’s entry into World War I, Joy leased and eventually sold the site to the U.S. Government for use as a training airfield. The main access road to what was to become Selfridge Field was named Henry B. Joy Boulevard in honor of Joy.