Saturday 5th August 1899

The Detroit Automobile Company was organised with Clarence A Black as President, Albert E F White as Vice President, William H Murphy as Secretary, and Frank R Alderman as Treasurer- the Mechanical Superintendent was Henry Ford. It was the first venture of its kind in Detroit. As with many early car ventures, the company floundered and was dissolved in January 1901. Twenty vehicles were built and $86,000 ($2.11 million in 2007) of investment was lost.