Settled by fur trader John Conner in 1808, Connersville came
into the limelight about a century later, when it was home to a
number of luxury automobile brands. Such all-but-forgotten names
as Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Ansted, Empire, Lexington and
McFarlan were associated with the east-central Indiana city that
came to be known as “Little Detroit”. Industry was so
concentrated in Connersville during its heyday that the city
qualified as the manufacturing capital of the world, per capita.
Although well known for its luxury, limited-edition models, the
Auburn Automobile company, which built Cords, Auburns,
Duesenbergs, and Checker Cabs, was a high-volume producer as
well. In 1931, Auburn registered 13th-highest in US car sales.
During the last decade, however, Little Detroit has been
suffering from the same troubles that have plagued its namesake.
Connersville’s Visteon plant, which supplied Ford Motor Company
with components for auto air-conditioning and fuel injectors,
was shuttered in 2007, eliminating 890