In 1922 Muscle Shoals was the site of an attempted community development project by Henry Ford, noted Michigan entrepreneur of the automobile industry. He wanted to take over a dam and other infrastructure built by the War Department but did not like the terms offered. Due to Ford's influence in the area, some streets were named after streets in Detroit, Michigan. As in Detroit, Woodward Avenue is the name of the main road through the city. Henry Ford conceived of a 75-mile industrial corridor from Decatur, Alabama to the tri-state border of Pickwick Lake.