♪ NARRATOR: The Erie Canal opened Detroit to more people out east.

MARTIN: Most of Detroit and Michigan's early Euro-American settlers trace their origins to New England and upstate New York, and it is no coincidence that we have in the Detroit metropolitan area a number of communities whose names can also be found in upstate New York.

Utica, Troy, Farmington, Livonia, Rochester.

All of those communities were named for the points of origin for people who settled there early on.

People often talk about the importance of Yankee Yorker culture in early Michigan.

NARRATOR: One Yankee Yorker sitting pretty?

Hazen Pingree - Detroit Mayor and Michigan Governor in the 1890s hailing from the state of Maine.

MARTIN: Individuals who trace their origins to that migration thread control the city well into the late 19th century in terms of politics and economics.

One example is the Joy family.

James Joy, one of the movers and shakers that helps to create Michigan's early railroads, the Michigan Central Railroad, makes a fortune in railroads.

He originated from New Hampshire.

His son, Henry Bournejoy, is one of the founders of Edison Company and the founder of Packard Motor Company.

Here's one family whose name is very familiar to Detroiters.

There's Joy Road, after all.

People still have recollections of the Packard plant and where it sat up on East Grand Boulevard.

And the railroad, the Michigan Central Railroad Depot, that was the railroad that James Joy started.

But this is a family that was very influential well into the 20th century.

ANNOUNCER: Destination Detroit - This program was made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

To learn more about this Detroit PBS series, visit Detroit PBS dot org slash Destination Detroit.

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